# entry

guid: yt:video:9fFhbk4Fn0w
title: PM Mark Carney speaks with reporters following cabinet swearing-in ceremony – May 13, 2025
author: ;cpac
link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fFhbk4Fn0w
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guid: 1030133 at https://www.zerohedge.com
title: "A Complete Surrender" - Germany Stops Spying On AfD Party After US Pressure
author: ;Tyler Durden
hash: �|��8;H��Ϧ�G
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<span property="schema:name" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">"A Complete Surrender" - Germany Stops Spying On AfD Party After US Pressure</span>

            <div property="schema:text" data-sanitized-class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p><a href="https://rmx.news/article/a-complete-surrender-us-pressure-may-have-forced-germany-to-drop-surveillance-on-right-wing-afd-party/"><em>Via Remix News,</em></a></p>

<p><strong>Germany’s domestic spy agency has suspended authoritarian surveillance methods of the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, and U.S. pressure may have played a role.</strong></p>

<p><a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/GettyImages-2197542275.jpg?itok=CgBh-MFk" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/GettyImages-2197542275.jpg?itok=CgBh-MFk"><picture><img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="50266f01-8f6f-46ec-a17a-b30b529f5963" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="317" width="500" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/GettyImages-2197542275.jpg?itok=CgBh-MFk" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" data-sanitized-class="inline-images image-style-inline-images"></picture></a></p>

<p>The German Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), the country’s powerful domestic spy agency, had labeled the AfD a “confirmed far-right organization” before suspending this designation last week. The main reason presented was that the AfD is appealing the designation in court and the agency would wait until this appeal is concluded to decide whether to keep the designation.</p>

<p><strong>However, Germany’s ally, the United States, immediately criticized the designation in some of the harshest language possible, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio calling it “tyranny in disguise.” </strong>That was not all, though. U.S. Senator Tom Cotton, chairman of the powerful U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee, then asked Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard (DNI) to suspend intelligence cooperation between the United States and Germany.</p>

<p>According to Cotton, the German authorities’ politically motivated surveillance activities resemble methods used by dictatorships that are unbecoming of a democratic ally.</p>

<p><em><strong>“Rather than trying to undermine the AfD using the tools of authoritarian states, Germany’s incoming government might be better advised to consider why the AfD continues to gain electoral ground,” </strong></em>he wrote.</p>

<blockquote data-sanitized-class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en">I asked <a href="https://twitter.com/DNIGabbard?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DNIGabbard</a> to ensure that no American intelligence agencies cooperate with German authorities involved in surveiling domestic political opponents.<br><br>
These police state tactics are more suited for Russia or Communist China, not Western Europe’s largest country.…</p>
— Tom Cotton (@SenTomCotton) <a href="https://twitter.com/SenTomCotton/status/1920192182079619139?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 7, 2025</a></blockquote>
<p>This would have represented a drastic break between the two allies and even a threat to Germany’s national security, which raised the stakes in Germany’s authoritarian move to stifle the political opposition. Currently, the AfD is the largest opposition party in the country and for the first time ever, polled in first place last month.</p>

<p>The developments have also caused a major stir in Germany. Alice Weidel, co-chair of the AfD, said American pressure was behind the BfV’s withdrawal of its designation label on the AfD. In addition, Joachim Steinhöfel, a lawyer defending freedom of speech, told NIUS that the move by the BfV is “a complete surrender by the German domestic intelligence service.” He also noted that U.S. influence was vital.</p>

<p><em><strong>“We also have to thank the Americans for exerting massive pressure,”</strong></em> he added.</p>

<p>Germany often relies on external partners to spy on its own citizens, as Germany features very strict privacy laws. The NSA is thought to be especially active watching Germans. As a result, any U.S. withdrawal from intelligence sharing could have been disastrous for Germany.</p>

<p>The temporary removal of the designation was warmly welcomed by the AfD, as it gives the party breathing room. For one, a vote on the ban of the party has little chance of moving forward without the designation. Second, the designation offered the BfV the legal means to surveil the entire party and its membership without a warrant, including reading emails and chats, as well as flood the party with informants.</p>

<blockquote data-sanitized-class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en">"I think it's really too late for a ban. The AfD is already too strong."<br><br>
Despite ongoing fears of an AfD ban, <a href="https://twitter.com/Dieter_Stein?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Dieter_Stein</a>, the EIC of the influential <a href="https://twitter.com/Junge_Freiheit?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Junge_Freiheit</a>, says it would be "ludicrous."<br><br>
In fact, he predicts an end to the firewall against the AfD within 1-2 years. <a href="https://t.co/We7hIQZrjS">pic.twitter.com/We7hIQZrjS</a></p>
— Remix News &amp; Views (@RMXnews) <a href="https://twitter.com/RMXnews/status/1896593653105094693?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 3, 2025</a></blockquote>
<p><strong>Now, German intelligence is being forced to rethink its surveillance policy as political divisions grow. </strong>However, if the appeal court agrees with the BfV that the AfD can be labeled right-wing extremist, the same issue may rear its head again. It is unclear how long this appeals process will take, whether months or even years; however, there is a growing chorus from Germany’s left, as well as the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), to ban the entire AfD party.</p>

<p>If that happens, tensions between the U.S. and Germany could soar to new heights.</p>

<p><a href="https://rmx.news/article/a-complete-surrender-us-pressure-may-have-forced-germany-to-drop-surveillance-on-right-wing-afd-party/"><em>Read more here...</em></a></p>
</div>
      <span rel="schema:author" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" xml:lang="" data-sanitized-class="username">Tyler Durden</a></span>
<span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-05-13T16:45:00+00:00" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden">Tue, 05/13/2025 - 12:45</span>

link:
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/complete-surrender-germany-stops-spying-afd-party-after-us-pressure


guid: yt:video:DKAKkM5R6eU
title: Joe Rogan Experience #2320 - Tom Segura
author: ;PowerfulJRE
link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKAKkM5R6eU
hash: �֘���҅���I.N�
attributes:
{"enclosures":[{"url":"https://www.youtube.com/v/DKAKkM5R6eU?version=3","title":"Joe Rogan Experience #2320 - Tom Segura","description":"Tom Segura is a stand-up comedian, actor, podcaster, and author. He co-hosts two podcasts: “Your Mom’s House” with his wife, comedian Christina Pazsitzky, and “Two Bears, One Cave” with Bert Kreischer. He is also the author of “I’d Like to Play Alone, Please: Essays.” Watch his comedy series, “Bad Thoughts,” now streaming on Netflix.\n⁠https://www.ymhstudios.com⁠\n⁠https://www.netflix.com/title/81740857⁠\n\n\nDon’t miss out on all the action - Download the DraftKings app today! Sign-up using ⁠https://dkng.co/rogan⁠ or with my promo code ROGAN. \nGAMBLING PROBLEM? CALL 1-800-GAMBLER, (800) 327-5050 or visit ⁠https://gamblinghelplinema.org⁠ (MA). Call 877-8-HOPENY/text HOPENY (467369) (NY). Please Gamble Responsibly. 888-789-7777/visit ⁠https://ccpg.org⁠ (CT), or visit ⁠https://www.mdgamblinghelp.org⁠ (MD). 21+ and present in most states. (18+ DC/KY/NH/WY). Void in ONT/OR/NH. Eligibility restrictions apply. On behalf of Boot Hill Casino &amp; Resort (KS). 1 per new customer. $5+ first-time bet req. Max. $200 issued as non-withdrawable Bonus Bets that expire in 7 days (168 hours). Stake removed from payout. Terms: ⁠https://sportsbook.draftkings.com/promos⁠. Ends 5/18/25 at 11:59 PM ET. Sponsored by DK.","type":"application/x-shockwave-flash","height":390,"width":640,"thumbnails":["https://i1.ytimg.com/vi/DKAKkM5R6eU/hqdefault.jpg"]}]}


guid: https://www.mondialisation.ca/?p=5698573
title: Logique et raisonnement en temps de guerre
author: ;M. K. Bhadrakumar
link: https://www.mondialisation.ca/logique-et-raisonnement-en-temps-de-guerre/5698573
hash: Դ��5��E�)yT
tags: #Francais @fr #Mobile #Inde #pakistan
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
content:
<p><strong>L’un des aspects les plus tristes de l’évolution de l’Inde vers un État de sécurité nationale au cours de la dernière décennie, depuis que notre défunt « <em>premier ministre pacifiste</em> », Manmohan Singh, a pris le pouvoir, a été l’atrophie </strong>…</p>


guid: 1030057 at https://www.zerohedge.com
title: US Unveils $1.4BN Weapons Sale To UAE Just Before Trump Visit
author: ;Tyler Durden
link: https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/us-unveils-14bn-weapons-sale-uae-just-trump-visit
hash: /|%u�4d��E����sg
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
content:
<span property="schema:name" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">US Unveils $1.4BN Weapons Sale To UAE Just Before Trump Visit</span>

            <div property="schema:text" data-sanitized-class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Oil, weapons, the United States, and the Gulf Arab monarchies... the foundation of relations, the 'bread and butter' going back at least half-a-century which is still going strong. </p>

<p>With President Donald Trump kicking off his Mideast tour in Saudi Arabia, and set to travel to Qatar and the United Arab Emirates next, the State Department has unveiled a weapons sale of <strong>over $1.4 billion to the United Arab Emirates</strong>.</p>

<p data-article-gutter="true" data-component-name="paragraph" data-editable="text" data-uri="cms.cnn.com/_components/paragraph/instances/cmalyplmf000c3b6mko7x7h3f@published">"The sale, which the State Department said was approved and notified to Congress, includes <strong>$1.3 billion for Chinook helicopters and $130 million </strong>for parts and support for F-16 fighter jets," <a href="https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/trump-middle-east-news-05-13-25#cmalxmoa200003b6mtxh6631g">CNN</a> writes.</p>
<a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/gulfustank.jpg?itok=0VcUIXqt" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/gulfustank.jpg?itok=0VcUIXqt"><picture><figure role="group" data-sanitized-class="caption caption-img inline-images image-style-inline-images"><img alt="" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="76563753-7a2d-470a-ad53-593c34dddde1" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="320" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/gulfustank.jpg?itok=0VcUIXqt" typeof="foaf:Image" width="500"><figcaption>First Gulf War file image, via War on the Rocks</figcaption></figure></picture></a>

<p data-article-gutter="true" data-component-name="paragraph" data-editable="text" data-uri="cms.cnn.com/_components/paragraph/instances/cmalyplmf000c3b6mko7x7h3f@published">The UAE will be the final stop in Trump's Middle East tour, or what the White House <a href="https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/watch-trumps-lavish-welcome-saudi-arabia-mbs-breaks-protocol-greets-him-plane">described</a> as his <strong>"historic return to the Middle East"</strong>.</p>

<p data-article-gutter="true" data-component-name="paragraph" data-editable="text" data-uri="cms.cnn.com/_components/paragraph/instances/cmalyplmf000c3b6mko7x7h3f@published">Of course, major arms sale are also expected for Saudi Arabia - and the UAE and Saudis often act in concert when it comes to defense needs, as was the case during the coalition's war on Yemen in the last decade.</p>

<p data-article-gutter="true" data-component-name="paragraph" data-editable="text" data-uri="cms.cnn.com/_components/paragraph/instances/cmalyplmf000c3b6mko7x7h3f@published">The Republican-led Congress, meanwhile, hasn't done much and likely isn't planning to do much else in the opening months of the Trump administration - other than perhaps rubber stamp these massive Gulf arms deals.</p>

<p data-article-gutter="true" data-component-name="paragraph" data-editable="text" data-uri="cms.cnn.com/_components/paragraph/instances/cmalyplmf000c3b6mko7x7h3f@published">However, there will some scant level of <a href="https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/trump-middle-east-news-05-13-25#cmalxmoa200003b6mtxh6631g">pushback</a>:</p>

<blockquote>
<p data-article-gutter="true" data-component-name="paragraph" data-editable="text" data-uri="cms.cnn.com/_components/paragraph/instances/cmalyplmg000f3b6mg836yh4u@published"><em><strong>"This year, Democratic lawmakers — who are in the minority in both houses of Congress — have opposed arms sales to the UAE," </strong>CNN notes. "In January, Sen. Chris Van Hollen and Rep. Sara Jacobs <a href="https://www.vanhollen.senate.gov/news/press-releases/van-hollen-jacobs-confirm-uae-providing-weapons-to-rsf-in-sudan-in-contradiction-to-its-assurances-to-us" target="_blank">called</a> out the UAE for providing weapons to the Rapid Support Forces in Sudan."</em></p>
</blockquote>

<p data-article-gutter="true" data-component-name="paragraph" data-editable="text" data-uri="cms.cnn.com/_components/paragraph/instances/cmalza2cq000h3b6mylwya6ak@published">"On Monday, the same day the latest sale was announced, Sen. Chris Murphy <a href="https://x.com/ChrisMurphyCT/status/1921878602791985236" target="_blank">said</a> he would seek to block sales to the UAE over an Abu Dhabi-backed investment firm’s $2 billion investment in Trump’s crypto venture," the same report says.</p>

<p data-article-gutter="true" data-component-name="paragraph" data-editable="text" data-uri="cms.cnn.com/_components/paragraph/instances/cmalza2cq000h3b6mylwya6ak@published">The UAE arms deal is also expected to include aerial support equipment such as engines, missile warning systems, in-flight refueling capabilities, and mounted machine guns - along with other aircraft parts.</p>
<a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/inline-images/trumpmetour.jpg?itok=1OpPnCJS" data-link-option="0" href="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/inline-images/trumpmetour.jpg?itok=1OpPnCJS"><picture><figure role="group" data-sanitized-class="caption caption-img inline-images image-style-inline-images"><img alt="" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="fcf81842-4bc4-44b9-a046-c1b5fbb87ab5" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="624" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/trumpmetour.jpg?itok=1OpPnCJS" typeof="foaf:Image" width="500"><figcaption><em>Source: Al Jazeera </em></figcaption></figure></picture></a>

<p data-article-gutter="true" data-component-name="paragraph" data-editable="text" data-uri="cms.cnn.com/_components/paragraph/instances/cmalza2cq000h3b6mylwya6ak@published">The Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) said in a statement that the arms transfer aims to "support the foreign policy and national security of the United States" by bolstering the defense capabilities of Washington ally, the UAE.</p>
</div>
      <span rel="schema:author" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" xml:lang="" data-sanitized-class="username">Tyler Durden</a></span>
<span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-05-13T17:05:00+00:00" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden">Tue, 05/13/2025 - 13:05</span>


guid: 1030138 at https://www.zerohedge.com
title: UK PM Starmer Slammed For Daring To Suggest Immigrants Should "Speak English"
author: ;Tyler Durden
hash: OYx��s���Lt��a6
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
content:
<span property="schema:name" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">UK PM Starmer Slammed For Daring To Suggest Immigrants Should "Speak English"</span>

            <div property="schema:text" data-sanitized-class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p><a href="https://modernity.news/2025/05/13/uk-pm-starmer-mercilessly-dragged-for-telling-immigrants-to-speak-english"><em>Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,</em></a></p>

<p><strong>In a jaw-dropping display of political hypocrisy, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer declared Monday that it is “common sense” that migrants should speak English, posting on X that “If you want to live in the UK, you should speak English.”</strong></p>

<blockquote data-sanitized-class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en">If you want to live in the UK, you should speak English. That’s common sense.<br><br>
So we’re raising English language requirements across every main immigration route.</p>
— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) <a href="https://twitter.com/Keir_Starmer/status/1921872765428109714?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 12, 2025</a></blockquote>
<blockquote data-sanitized-class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en">Do something then. Empty words years too late. <a href="https://t.co/ALEZweZ6UF">pic.twitter.com/ALEZweZ6UF</a></p>
— m o d e r n i t y (@ModernityNews) <a href="https://twitter.com/ModernityNews/status/1921941275718070637?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 12, 2025</a></blockquote>
<p>This from the same Labour leader whose government has overseen the harassment and even arrest of Brits for expressing similar sentiments, branded as potential “hate crimes” under draconian speech laws.</p>

<blockquote data-conversation="none" data-sanitized-class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en">“Speak English”?<br><br>
That’s literally a hate crime in your tyrannical fascist hell-hole, jackass.<br><br>
Off to jail for you!<br><br>
Bigot! <a href="https://t.co/bVbvIMeAYz">pic.twitter.com/bVbvIMeAYz</a></p>
— Viva Frei (@thevivafrei) <a href="https://twitter.com/thevivafrei/status/1921909497926144178?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 12, 2025</a></blockquote>
<blockquote data-conversation="none" data-sanitized-class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en">But don’t you arrest people for tweeting things like this?<br><br>
You’re such a confusing politician.</p>
— The Gay Republican 🇺🇲✝️🇮🇱 (@GayRepublicSwag) <a href="https://twitter.com/GayRepublicSwag/status/1921942436592443519?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 12, 2025</a></blockquote>
<blockquote data-sanitized-class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en">It's a criminal act to say "if you want to live in the UK, you should speak English" in Britain (cf. Crime and Disorder Act 1998, s. 33, s. 50A), and UK police have issued warnings for asking someone to 'speak English' <a href="https://t.co/1fe47lV9Ne">https://t.co/1fe47lV9Ne</a></p>
— ib (@Indian_Bronson) <a href="https://twitter.com/Indian_Bronson/status/1921950556051943864?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 12, 2025</a></blockquote>
<p>While ordinary citizens face police scrutiny for daring to question unchecked immigration or cultural integration, Starmer now parrots the very rhetoric he once condemned, revealing a spineless opportunism that prioritizes political survival over principle.</p>

<blockquote data-conversation="none" data-sanitized-class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en">So if you do a meme in another language you get twice the jail time?</p>
— Bo French (@BoFrenchTX) <a href="https://twitter.com/BoFrenchTX/status/1921904842412364009?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 12, 2025</a></blockquote>
<blockquote data-conversation="none" data-sanitized-class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en">That sounds like extreme far-right Brexity-things rhetoric to me. Report him!</p>
— Alice Smith (@TheAliceSmith) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheAliceSmith/status/1921952113548038524?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 12, 2025</a></blockquote>
<p>The irony is thicker than London fog: the man who championed open borders and vilified Brexit voters as xenophobes now postures as a defender of national cohesion, all while his Home Office fails to stem the tide of illegal Channel crossings.</p>

<blockquote data-conversation="none" data-sanitized-class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en">You let the entire 3rd world invade your country.<br><br>
It’s far too late for that<br><br>
You already destroyed your own country by being a stupid leftist.</p>
— Philip Anderson (@VoteHarrisOut) <a href="https://twitter.com/VoteHarrisOut/status/1921930229959811493?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 12, 2025</a></blockquote>
<p>This brazen pivot comes as no surprise given the political earthquake shaking Starmer’s Labour Party. The recent local elections saw Nigel Farage’s Reform UK surge, capturing councils and seats with a platform unapologetically slamming mass immigration and woke orthodoxy.</p>

<p>Reform’s gains, including a stunning Runcorn byelection upset, have sent Labour into a tailspin, with Starmer’s approval ratings tanking as voters flee to Farage’s turquoise tidal wave.</p>

<blockquote data-sanitized-class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en">man, the internal polling for labour must be the data version of a slaughterhouse <a href="https://t.co/bv06n28QUN">https://t.co/bv06n28QUN</a></p>
— kaitlin (@thefactualprep) <a href="https://twitter.com/thefactualprep/status/1921970287026860344?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 12, 2025</a></blockquote>
<p>Polls show Reform’s favourability spiking, particularly among working-class Britons fed up with Labour’s elitist disconnect. Starmer’s sudden tough talk on immigration—complete with promises to slash net migration and impose stricter English language rules—smacks of a desperate bid to claw back voters defecting to Reform.</p>

<p>But his words ring hollow, a cynical rebrand from a man who, as shadow Brexit secretary, campaigned for a second EU referendum and scoffed at concerns about immigration’s impact on communities.</p>

<p><a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/Jim.jpg?itok=Odg4zvG2" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/Jim.jpg?itok=Odg4zvG2"><picture><img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="debc5e1b-16b3-4c45-9b17-2f7d52459c5a" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="563" width="500" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/Jim.jpg?itok=Odg4zvG2" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" data-sanitized-class="inline-images image-style-inline-images"></picture></a></p>

<p> </p>

<p><strong>The stench of Starmer’s double standards is suffocating.</strong> While he now preaches “integration” and “fair rules,” his government continues to coddle a system where dissenters are silenced and borders remain porous.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Brits who’ve lost jobs, homes, or safety to the strains of mass migration watch as Starmer plays both sides—cracking down on free speech while failing to deport illegals. Reform UK’s rise isn’t just a warning shot; it’s a referendum on Labour’s betrayal of the working class.</p>

<p>Starmer’s English language edict isn’t common sense—it’s a calculated flip-flop from a man terrified of Farage’s shadow, and it won’t fool a public fed up with two-faced elites.</p>

<blockquote data-sanitized-class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en">The most common baby boy name in England is Muhammad. It's too late for this now. <a href="https://t.co/2fvyzUfU06">https://t.co/2fvyzUfU06</a></p>
— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) <a href="https://twitter.com/Riley_Gaines_/status/1921962623865618451?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 12, 2025</a></blockquote>
<p><iframe data-secret="fQ3RE8c2Mb" frameborder="0" height="500" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin" scrolling="no" security="restricted" src="https://modernity.news/2024/12/05/muhammad-is-the-most-popular-name-for-boys-in-england-wales/embed/#?secret=fQ3RE8c2Mb" title="“Muhammad is The Most Popular Name For Boys in England &amp; Wales” — modernity" width="600" data-sanitized-class="wp-embedded-content" allow="accelerometer; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share"></iframe></p>

<p>Mere hours after Starmer’s incredible immigration remarks, a suspected arson attack rocked his £2 million north London home, with counter-terrorism police now probing a potential firebomb incident that charred the front door.</p>

<blockquote data-sanitized-class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en">Obvious fire damage at the entrance to Sir Keir Starmer’s home in Kentish town. Counter terror police are now linking three separate arson attacks. A 21 year old man was arrested in the early hours this morning. <a href="https://t.co/c644uHg8DV">pic.twitter.com/c644uHg8DV</a></p>
— Mark White (@markwhiteTV) <a href="https://twitter.com/markwhiteTV/status/1922216766069002738?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 13, 2025</a></blockquote>
<p>The blaze, one of <em>three</em> suspicious fires linked to properties owned by Starmer, including a car fire and another at an Islington flat, has sparked speculation of retaliation tied to his newfound immigration stance.</p>

<blockquote data-sanitized-class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en">Pictured: A photograph shared with The Telegraph shows a car – just yards from Keir Starmer’s home – consumed by flames<br><br>
A 21-year-old man is arrested on suspicion of arson by police investigating a fire at Prime Minister’s property<br><br>
Read the full story ⬇️<a href="https://t.co/dhK5O0ocuh">https://t.co/dhK5O0ocuh</a> <a href="https://t.co/RXQylrIApH">pic.twitter.com/RXQylrIApH</a></p>
— The Telegraph (@Telegraph) <a href="https://twitter.com/Telegraph/status/1922234448294109662?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 13, 2025</a></blockquote>
<p>Posts on X suggest the attack may be linked to pro-immigration activists or groups like Palestine Solidarity, angered by Starmer’s “island of strangers” rhetoric and English language mandate.</p>

<p><iframe data-secret="qzKNFPZzAo" frameborder="0" height="500" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin" scrolling="no" security="restricted" src="https://modernity.news/2025/05/13/is-britain-on-the-brink-of-civil-war/embed/#?secret=qzKNFPZzAo" title="“Is Britain On The Brink Of Civil War?” — modernity" width="600" data-sanitized-class="wp-embedded-content" allow="accelerometer; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share"></iframe></p>

<p>While police have arrested a 21-year-old suspect, the timing—coming on the heels of Starmer’s speech—raises chilling questions about whether his cynical pivot has inflamed tensions even further.</p>

<p><iframe allow="accelerometer; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/TzNStPODLLs" title="Something Bad Is Coming" width="560" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin"></iframe></p>

<p>*  *  *</p>

<p><em>Your support is crucial in helping us defeat mass censorship. Please consider donating via <a href="https://pauljosephwatson.locals.com/support">Locals</a> or check out our unique <a href="https://www.modernity.news/shop">merch</a>. Follow us on X <a href="https://x.com/modernitynews">@ModernityNews</a></em>.</p>
</div>
      <span rel="schema:author" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" xml:lang="" data-sanitized-class="username">Tyler Durden</a></span>
<span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-05-13T17:25:00+00:00" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden">Tue, 05/13/2025 - 13:25</span>

link:
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/uk-pm-starmer-slammed-daring-suggest-immigrants-should-speak-english


guid: yt:video:jhK_b_8WjRg
title: Shahid Bolsen | The Sufficiency Lectures | Part Three: The Counter-Geography of Liberation
author: ;Middle Nation
link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhK_b_8WjRg
hash: &Aƈc��'"wR��1o
attributes:
{"enclosures":[{"url":"https://www.youtube.com/v/jhK_b_8WjRg?version=3","title":"Shahid Bolsen  | The Sufficiency Lectures | Part Three: The Counter-Geography of Liberation","description":"This is the third and final part of The Sufficiency Lectures — a comprehensive strategy for economic sovereignty and ethical self-reliance in the Global South and the Muslim world.\n\nIn this final installment, Shahid Bolsen outlines the structural pillars of Sufficiency Zones and how they serve as moral and material ruptures in the architecture of global captivity. From energy and water independence to agro-sovereignty, ethical finance, and labor regulation — this lecture maps the blueprint for resisting the Owners and Controllers of Global Financialized Capital (OCGFC) through decentralized, community-based resilience.\n\nCase studies from Cuba, Iran, and Türkiye illustrate the logic of sufficiency at national scale — a logic that can be replicated from the bottom up, by neighborhoods, villages, and collectives across the Global South.\n\nThis is not utopia. This is survival with dignity.\nThis is not rebellion. It is refusal.\nThis is not isolation. It is the foundation of a new geography of power.\n\n📍 Watch the full series to understand how we move from protest to production, from captivity to coherence, from dependence to discipline.\n\n#SufficiencyZones #MiddleNation #EconomicSovereignty #Decentralization #ShahidBolsen #OCGFC #GlobalSouth","type":"application/x-shockwave-flash","height":390,"width":640,"thumbnails":["https://i3.ytimg.com/vi/jhK_b_8WjRg/hqdefault.jpg"]}]}


guid: yt:video:CqIIlvdjEDU
title: Blair, Gould, Miller and others not in PM Carney’s new cabinet: analysis – May 13, 2025
author: ;cpac
link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqIIlvdjEDU
hash: ��'ˑ���f�HtTj
attributes:
{"enclosures":[{"url":"https://www.youtube.com/v/CqIIlvdjEDU?version=3","title":"Blair, Gould, Miller and others not in PM Carney’s new cabinet: analysis – May 13, 2025","description":"CPAC’s Michael Serapio discusses the composition of the new cabinet of Prime Minister Carney with Marci Surkes, Liberal strategist and Strategic Advisor at Compass Rose.\n\nhttps://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLdgoQ6C3ckQtEh2j6C6C5RqJoLpPMkJPG\nhttps://x.com/CPAC_TV\nhttps://www.tiktok.com/@cpac_tv","type":"application/x-shockwave-flash","height":390,"width":640,"thumbnails":["https://i4.ytimg.com/vi/CqIIlvdjEDU/hqdefault.jpg"]}]}


guid: 1030126 at https://www.zerohedge.com
title: WH Correspondents Seethe Over 'New Media' Policies, Lack Of Wire Reporters On Air Force One
author: ;Tyler Durden
hash: uvo�G= �Q3>�)wN
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
content:
<span property="schema:name" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">WH Correspondents Seethe Over 'New Media' Policies, Lack Of Wire Reporters On Air Force One</span>

            <div property="schema:text" data-sanitized-class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Legacy media representatives are frustrated and angry over the Trump administration's new media policy, and the fact that mainstream outlets like <em>The Associated Press</em> are still in some cases<strong> being frozen out of key events and Trump trips</strong>.</p>

<p>The AP is highlighting Tuesday that "The group representing White House journalists said Monday it was disturbed that the Trump administration <strong>barred any wire service news reporters from traveling with the president on Air Force One</strong> to the Middle East."</p>

<p xmlns="http://iptc.org/std/NITF/2006-10-18/">"No reporters from The Associated Press, Bloomberg, or Reuters was on the plane, where presidents often take questions from traveling members of the press," <a href="https://www.newsmax.com/politics/white-house-wire-reporters-trump-administration/2025/05/12/id/1210658/">the report</a> underscores.</p>

<p xmlns="http://iptc.org/std/NITF/2006-10-18/">The White House has been at loggerheads with the Associated Press over the US-based news agency's decision to not change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America, as Trump had called for in an executive order. Trump is reportedly soon to announce another change - from Persian Gulf to Gulf of Arabia - a longtime wish of Washington's Gulf Arab allies, and a poke at Iran.</p>

<p xmlns="http://iptc.org/std/NITF/2006-10-18/">The White House has meanwhile been implementing something historic and unprecedented with its new media policy, finally allowing independent and alternative sources, and non-traditional mediums to report from the White House, including of course <em>ZeroHedge</em>...</p>

<blockquote data-sanitized-class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en">"Thanks Mr. President. First, I just want to thank you for letting us in here. I'm with Zero Hedge <a href="https://twitter.com/zerohedge?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@zerohedge</a> . And the last Administration banned us on social media. So we're really grateful being in the White House." <a href="https://t.co/cPBpheaFyY">pic.twitter.com/cPBpheaFyY</a></p>
— Howard Mortman (@HowardMortman) <a href="https://twitter.com/HowardMortman/status/1919455908611936644?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 5, 2025</a></blockquote>
<p xmlns="http://iptc.org/std/NITF/2006-10-18/">New media outlets are also actually being given the <strong>opportunity to rotate in for space on Air Force One</strong>, official events at Mar-a-Lago, and other locations where Trump gives briefings and remarks.</p>

<p xmlns="http://iptc.org/std/NITF/2006-10-18/">Naturally, we only welcome this and any and all policies which in effect break the MSM's stranglehold over political narratives as the conventional 'gatekeepers'. </p>

<p xmlns="http://iptc.org/std/NITF/2006-10-18/">To review, a few short years ago US intelligence under the Biden administration targeted <em>ZeroHedge</em>, accusing us of 'mis-/mal-/dis-information' for what was in reality us merely taking an independent, critical view of Washington policy regarding the Russia-Ukraine war and the Covid-19 pandemic.</p>
<a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/af1file_0.jpg?itok=cvkg6YyH" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/af1file_0.jpg?itok=cvkg6YyH"><picture><figure role="group" data-sanitized-class="caption caption-img inline-images image-style-inline-images"><img alt="" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="4bda5a15-419b-483e-b595-47898a74c748" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="281" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/af1file_0.jpg?itok=cvkg6YyH" typeof="foaf:Image" width="500"><figcaption><em>Stillframe via YouTube</em></figcaption></figure></picture></a>

<p xmlns="http://iptc.org/std/NITF/2006-10-18/">We were promptly smeared, de-monetized by Google, briefly banned on Twitter (now X) and generally sneered at by the mainstream commentariat, with accompanying ill-informed hit pieces.</p>

<p xmlns="http://iptc.org/std/NITF/2006-10-18/">But we took this as a badge of honor, given we simply asked questions which the majority of non-DC beltway normal middle Americans, wanted to know. And we plan to continue, more fiercely than ever, but this time from just in front of the presidential podium.</p>
</div>
      <span rel="schema:author" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" xml:lang="" data-sanitized-class="username">Tyler Durden</a></span>
<span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-05-13T17:45:00+00:00" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden">Tue, 05/13/2025 - 13:45</span>

link:
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/wh-correspondents-seethe-over-new-media-policies-lack-wire-reporters-air-force-one


guid: 1030147 at https://www.zerohedge.com
title: 'Dark Stablecoins' Could Emerge As Regulations Tighten
author: ;Tyler Durden
link: https://www.zerohedge.com/crypto/dark-stablecoins-could-emerge-regulations-tighten
hash: <��V_U� �z���y�
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
content:
<span property="schema:name" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">'Dark Stablecoins' Could Emerge As Regulations Tighten</span>

            <div property="schema:text" data-sanitized-class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p><a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/regulations-spark-censorship-resistant-dark-stablecoins"><em>Authored by Stephen Katte via CoinTelegraph.com,</em></a></p>

<p><strong>Censorship-resistant “dark stablecoins” could come in increasing demand as governments tighten their oversight of the industry. </strong></p>

<p><a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/0195fb7e-3f17-7cd7-92c9-e6d24ce0.jpg?itok=IxjGGPNk" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/0195fb7e-3f17-7cd7-92c9-e6d24ce0.jpg?itok=IxjGGPNk"><picture><img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="609c067d-04c5-47ad-8dec-b5cd1d8de47c" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="333" width="500" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/0195fb7e-3f17-7cd7-92c9-e6d24ce0.jpg?itok=IxjGGPNk" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" data-sanitized-class="inline-images image-style-inline-images"></picture></a></p>

<p>Stablecoins have been used for various groups to store assets due to a lack of government interference; however, with regulations pending, that could soon change, Ki Young Ju, CEO of crypto analytics firm CryptoQuant, <a href="https://x.com/ki_young_ju/status/1921521574450213293">said</a> in a May 11 X post.</p>

<p><em>“Soon, any stablecoin issued by a country could face strict govt regulation, similar to traditional banks. Transfers might automatically trigger tax collection through smart contracts, and wallets could be frozen or require paperwork based on government rules,” he said.</em></p>

<blockquote><strong>“People who used stablecoins for big international transfers might start looking for censorship-resistant dark stablecoins instead.”</strong></blockquote>

<p>On the heels of US President Donald Trump’s <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/trump-first-month-brings-change-crypto">crypto-friendly administration assuming power</a> earlier this year, lawmakers are weighing stablecoin legislation, which seeks to regulate US stablecoins, ensuring their legal use for payments. </p>

<p>The European Union has already brought in its <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/learn/articles/markets-in-crypto-assets-regulation-mica">Markets in Crypto-Assets</a> (MiCA) regulation, which, among other measures, <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/learn/articles/top-mica-compliant-alternatives-to-usdt-for-european-users">mandates that stablecoins be regulated</a> and transparent.</p>

<p><a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/0196c24c-0556-7ed6-b983-10f7b7bc.jpg?itok=xOGXOigg" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/0196c24c-0556-7ed6-b983-10f7b7bc.jpg?itok=xOGXOigg"><picture><img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="a3a567f8-54ba-4546-a125-753d467859f7" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="435" width="500" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/0196c24c-0556-7ed6-b983-10f7b7bc.jpg?itok=xOGXOigg" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" data-sanitized-class="inline-images image-style-inline-images"></picture></a></p>

<p><em>Source: </em><a href="https://x.com/ki_young_ju/status/1921521574450213293"><em>Ki Young Ju</em></a></p>

<p>Ju speculates that a dark or private stablecoin could be <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/learn/articles/algorithmic-vs-collateralized-stablecoins">created as an algorithmic stablecoin</a>, with the value maintained through algorithmic mechanisms rather than being pegged to an external asset like gold, which makes it susceptible to interference from authorities. </p>

<p>“One possible example could be a decentralized stablecoin that follows the price of regulated coins like USDC using data oracles like Chainlink,” he said.</p>

<p>Another way would be stablecoins issued by countries that don’t censor financial transactions, or, for example, if Tether chooses not to comply with US government regulations in the future.</p>

<p><em><strong>“USDT itself used to be considered a censorship-resistant stablecoin. If Tether chooses not to comply with US government regulations under a future Trump administration, it could become a dark stablecoin in an increasingly censored internet economy,”</strong></em> Ju said.</p>

<h2>Privacy technology in crypto is already being used</h2>

<p>Zcash and Monero — while they aren’t stablecoins —already shield transactions and allow users to send and receive funds without revealing their transaction data on the blockchain.</p>

<p>Several projects are also working on using similar technology for stablecoins, such as Zephyr Protocol, a Monero fork that hides transactions from being revealed on the blockchain. PARScoin also hides user identities, transaction values, and links to past transactions.</p>

<p><strong>The market cap of US dollar-denominated stablecoins has continued to grow, crossing $230 billion in April,</strong> a <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/2025-potentially-blockchain-chatgpt-moment-adoption">report from investment banking giant Citigroup</a> found. That’s an increase of 54% since last year, with Tether and USDC dominating 90% of the market.</p>

<p>Meanwhile, total stablecoin volumes hit <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/stablecoins-beat-visa-mastercard-2024-volume">$27.6 trillion in 2024, surpassing the combined</a> volumes of Visa and Mastercard by 7.7%. </p>
</div>
      <span rel="schema:author" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" xml:lang="" data-sanitized-class="username">Tyler Durden</a></span>
<span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-05-13T18:05:00+00:00" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden">Tue, 05/13/2025 - 14:05</span>


guid: https://www.mondialisation.ca/?p=5698577
author: ;Lucas Leiroz de Almeida
hash: ���ŀ(�b6��mz%�
tags: #Francais @fr #Mobile #Arctique
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
title:
La Russie abandonne les accords avec les pays nordiques en raison de l’hostilité de l’Occident dans l’Arctique

content:
<p>La coopération entre la Fédération de Russie et l’Occident collectif se détériore de plus en plus dans plusieurs domaines stratégiques présentant un intérêt mutuel. Cette situation est particulièrement préoccupante dans la région arctique, car les traités régissant les activités internationales …</p>

link:
https://www.mondialisation.ca/la-russie-abandonne-les-accords-avec-les-pays-nordiques-en-raison-de-lhostilite-de-loccident-dans-larctique/5698577


guid: yt:video:R6z_rc3xcMU
title: PM Carney appoints new and former ministers to his cabinet: bilingual analysis panel - May 13, 2025
author: ;cpac
link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6z_rc3xcMU
hash: ����w��E����q� �
attributes:
{"enclosures":[{"url":"https://www.youtube.com/v/R6z_rc3xcMU?version=3","title":"PM Carney appoints new and former ministers to his cabinet: bilingual analysis panel - May 13, 2025","description":"Our hosts Catherine Lafrance and Michael Serapio discuss Prime Minister Mark Carney's new cabinet with our analysts Geneviève Tellier, Lori Turnbull and Robert Russo.\n\nhttps://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLdgoQ6C3ckQtEh2j6C6C5RqJoLpPMkJPG\nhttps://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLdgoQ6C3ckQvjggihG__kKzu8n8a-6C9g\nhttps://x.com/CPAC_TV\nhttps://www.tiktok.com/@cpac_tv","type":"application/x-shockwave-flash","height":390,"width":640,"thumbnails":["https://i3.ytimg.com/vi/R6z_rc3xcMU/hqdefault.jpg"]}]}


guid: 1030009 at https://www.zerohedge.com
title: Trade Truce Set To Ignite "Red Hot" Front-Running Of Chinese Exports To US; Goldman
author: ;Tyler Durden
hash: ҷh�@�����}�-
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
content:
<span property="schema:name" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Trade Truce Set To Ignite "Red Hot" Front-Running Of Chinese Exports To US; Goldman</span>

            <div property="schema:text" data-sanitized-class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>The so-called "<a href="https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/us-china-reach-agreement-lower-tariffs-90-day-cool-period">breakthrough</a>" trade deal between the U.S. and China on Monday slashes reciprocal tariffs and sets off a 90-day cooling period—one that Goldman analyst Philip Sun says will likely spark a surge of imports into U.S. ports. Far from the doom-and-gloom headlines pushed by leftist corporate media about "<a href="https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/fake-news-narrative-empty-ports-empty-shelves-suffers-spectacular-implosion?ref=biztoc.com">empty ports</a>" and "empty shelves," the incoming round of frontrunning by importers exposes those narratives as little more than misinformation and disinformation. </p>

<p>The 90-day pause begins on Wednesday. This means President Trump's 145% tariffs on Chinese imports will be slashed to 30%, while Beijing will reduce its levies from 125% to 10%. The breakthrough in trade talks follows U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's high-stakes meeting with Chinese trade representatives in Switzerland over the weekend.</p>

<p><a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/unnamed-1_51.png?itok=VpmnlxR5" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/unnamed-1_51.png?itok=VpmnlxR5"><picture><img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="6e1d0924-fba9-40f0-9ad3-19023416328b" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="354" width="500" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/unnamed-1_51.png?itok=VpmnlxR5" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" data-sanitized-class="inline-images image-style-inline-images"></picture></a></p>

<p>Now that U.S. importers have a clear runway of dramatically reduced import costs for three months, Goldman's Sun asked Tuesday: <em>"Just imagine: given the 90-day tariff pause, how eager the Chinese exporters and American importers would be in rushing the orders?" </em></p>

<p>The analyst followed up with another question: <em>"We live in a highly uncertain world. Who knows what might happen after 90 days? (or even within). Should the Wal-Marts of the world try to stock up as many Christmas items as possible, perhaps not only for 2025, maybe even for 2026, too?" </em></p>

<p>All great questions.</p>

<p>Sun answered his own question with a bold forecast:<strong> "China's exports will be RED HOT in the next 90 days. Frontrunning would be the key word." </strong></p>

<p>In a separate note, Jefferies analysts pointed out that freight rates on the trans-Pacific shipping route between China and the U.S. have soared from $2,000 per forty-foot equivalent unit in mid-April to around $2,500 this week. </p>

<p>"The container sector is positioned for a meaningful improvement in spot rates on two fundamental fronts: a resumption of normal volumes and the beginnings of peak season, which typically commences by July," Jefferies analysts said, adding, "Given the tighter capacity on the transpacific, ocean carriers are in the driver's seat to push freight rates meaningfully higher."</p>

<p>Freight forwarders, such as CMA CGM SA, called the 90-day pause and the move down in the tariff rate between China and the U.S. as "good news." </p>

<p>A Maersk spokesman told <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-05-13/china-us-truce-prompts-price-jump-in-pacific-shipping-frenzy">Bloomberg</a>:<strong> "Right now, our customers have gotten 90 days of clarity with reduced tariffs, and we are working hard to help them make the best use of this window."</strong></p>

<p>"As many exporters might have held up their shipments to the US in April, the <strong>substantial tariff rollback is likely to spur a wave of pent-up exports</strong>," Nomura chief China economist Lu Ting wrote in a note on Monday. </p>

<p>Here's a live shot of all container ships with a port calling in the U.S. </p>

<p><a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/Snag_8b5c451f.png?itok=3G6UJGd5" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/Snag_8b5c451f.png?itok=3G6UJGd5"><picture><img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="53b924b5-610a-4d02-8ccf-e84abdab663c" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="334" width="500" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/Snag_8b5c451f.png?itok=3G6UJGd5" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" data-sanitized-class="inline-images image-style-inline-images"></picture></a></p>

<blockquote data-sanitized-class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en">Our ocean freight bookings from China to US increased 35% in the first day since the trade deal. A big backlog is looming, soon the ships will be sold out.</p>
— Ryan Petersen (@typesfast) <a href="https://twitter.com/typesfast/status/1922075631270953226?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 12, 2025</a></blockquote>
<p><strong>The incoming 90-day frontrunning of tariffs will merely destroy the far-left corporate media's obsession with gloom and doom</strong>:<em> "<a href="https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/fake-news-narrative-empty-ports-empty-shelves-suffers-spectacular-implosion?ref=biztoc.com">empty ports, empty shelves</a>." </em></p>
</div>
      <span rel="schema:author" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" xml:lang="" data-sanitized-class="username">Tyler Durden</a></span>
<span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-05-13T18:25:00+00:00" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden">Tue, 05/13/2025 - 14:25</span>

link:
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/goldman-trade-truce-set-ignite-red-hot-front-running-chinese-exports-us


guid: 1030150 at https://www.zerohedge.com
title: The Latest Border Patrol Numbers Are Here And Wow...
author: ;Tyler Durden
link: https://www.zerohedge.com/political/latest-border-patrol-numbers-are-here-and-wow
hash: 6+Ģ Z� )UxSV
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
content:
<span property="schema:name" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">The Latest Border Patrol Numbers Are Here And Wow...</span>

            <div property="schema:text" data-sanitized-class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p><a href="https://modernity.news/2025/05/12/the-latest-border-patrol-numbers-are-here-and-wow"><em>Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,</em></a></p>

<p><strong>The Border Patrol has released the latest stats on encounters with illegal aliens at the border and they once again prove that there was an intentional controlled effort to flood America with immigrants under the Biden administration.</strong></p>

<p><a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/border-patrol.jpg?itok=RIzM3tBV" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/border-patrol.jpg?itok=RIzM3tBV"><picture><img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="a42e702b-f8a8-498d-8289-6f2bb6dfab1f" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="281" width="500" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/border-patrol.jpg?itok=RIzM3tBV" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" data-sanitized-class="inline-images image-style-inline-images"></picture></a></p>

<p>The numbers from CBP show that apprehensions are down 93% in April, and only <em>five</em> illegal immigrants were released into the country in April, compared to 68,000 last April.</p>

<p><strong>You can count them on one hand. The border is truly secure now.</strong></p>

<blockquote data-sanitized-class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en">April 2025:<br>
➡️8,383 illegal aliens at the southern border<br>
➡️279 apprehensions / day<br><br>
April 2024:<br>
➡️128,895 illegal aliens at the southern border<br>
➡️4,297 apprehensions / day<br><br>
President Trump has secured our border. <a href="https://t.co/YYDOpxa7xu">https://t.co/YYDOpxa7xu</a></p>
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) <a href="https://twitter.com/RNCResearch/status/1921972246228201917?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 12, 2025</a></blockquote>
<p><strong>Even those five were only allowed into the country temporarily for special interest court cases.</strong></p>

<p>The figures confirm that April 2025 averaged 279 Border Patrol apprehensions of illegal aliens per day.  Compare that to April 2024, which averaged 4,297 Border Patrol apprehensions of illegal aliens per day.</p>

<p>A total of 8,383 illegal aliens were apprehended at the southern border in April, down from nearly 129,000 in April 2024.</p>

<blockquote data-conversation="none" data-sanitized-class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en">From 129,000 to 8,000. From chaos to control. Turns out, when you treat the border like a national security issue instead of a humanitarian PR stunt, things actually change. Imagine that.</p>
— The Undercurrent (@NotTheirScript) <a href="https://twitter.com/NotTheirScript/status/1921944199982731716?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 12, 2025</a></blockquote>
<p>That 8,000+ were also not put on planes and buses and shipped all over the country.</p>

<p>“For the first time in years, more agents are back in the field – patrolling territories that CBP didn’t have the bandwidth or manpower to oversee just six months ago,” said Pete Flores, Acting Commissioner of CBP.</p>

<p><a data-image-external-href="https://store.zerohedge.com/rancher-direct-clean-food/" data-image-href="https://store.zerohedge.com/rancher-direct-clean-food/" data-link-option="2" href="https://store.zerohedge.com/rancher-direct-clean-food/"><picture><img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="1c38003d-e261-45b5-bf45-2658a2ac906b" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="129" width="500" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/beef%20initiative_5.JPG?itok=OL2bUk_X" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" data-sanitized-class="inline-images image-style-inline-images"></picture></a></p>

<p>“But thanks to this administration’s dramatic shift in security posture at our border, we are now seeing operational control becoming a reality – and it’s only just beginning,” he added.</p>

<p>Veteran border reporter Bill Melugin <a href="https://x.com/BillMelugin_/status/1921943515837120671">declared</a> “<strong>The border is effectively closed/shut down,</strong> catch and release is over, gotaways are minuscule, and there has been no traditional spring surge of migrants arriving at the border. Messaging, executive policy, and consequences have intersected to create the quietest border in modern history.”</p>

<blockquote data-sanitized-class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en">5 illegals vs 68,000 illegals. Wow. What a difference it makes to have a President who actually cares about American sovereignty &amp; secure borders. THANK YOU PRESIDENT TRUMP! <a href="https://t.co/dsVUeEctDj">https://t.co/dsVUeEctDj</a></p>
— Abigail Jackson 🇺🇸 (@abigailmarone) <a href="https://twitter.com/abigailmarone/status/1921945363155398660?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 12, 2025</a></blockquote>
<p>Hang on, we were repeatedly told by Democrats that this couldn’t be done.</p>

<blockquote data-conversation="none" data-sanitized-class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en">But I was told a new bill was needed to do this.</p>
— Wisconsin’s Conservative Sponge (@wiz_political) <a href="https://twitter.com/wiz_political/status/1921955582627512530?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 12, 2025</a></blockquote>
<blockquote data-media-max-width="560" data-sanitized-class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en">NEW: Border apprehensions are down 93% in April, only *5* illegal immigrants were released into the country in April, compared to 68,000 last April.<br><br>
Never forget how the scam artists in the media told you this wasn't possible without spending hundreds of billions of dollars.<br><br>
As… <a href="https://t.co/x58mywhEVg">pic.twitter.com/x58mywhEVg</a></p>
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) <a href="https://twitter.com/CollinRugg/status/1921970450491703749?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 12, 2025</a></blockquote>
<p><strong>LIES.</strong></p>

<blockquote data-conversation="none" data-sanitized-class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en">All we needed was a new President. 🇺🇸</p>
— 🇺🇲🗑Small Town Chick🇺🇲 (@ejc9029) <a href="https://twitter.com/ejc9029/status/1921945382562476316?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 12, 2025</a></blockquote>
<p><iframe data-secret="DlZrw9VAoS" frameborder="0" height="500" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin" scrolling="no" security="restricted" src="https://modernity.news/2025/05/11/border-then-vs-now-videos-prove-flood-of-illegals-was-intentional/embed/#?secret=DlZrw9VAoS" title="“Border Then vs. Now: Videos PROVE Flood Of Illegals Was Intentional” — modernity" width="600" data-sanitized-class="wp-embedded-content" allow="accelerometer; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share"></iframe></p>

<p>*  *  *</p>

<p><em>Your support is crucial in helping us defeat mass censorship. Please consider donating via <a href="https://pauljosephwatson.locals.com/support">Locals</a> or check out our unique <a href="https://www.modernity.news/shop">merch</a>. Follow us on X <a href="https://x.com/modernitynews">@ModernityNews</a></em>.</p>
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      <span rel="schema:author" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" xml:lang="" data-sanitized-class="username">Tyler Durden</a></span>
<span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-05-13T18:45:00+00:00" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden">Tue, 05/13/2025 - 14:45</span>


guid: https://gript.ie/?p=330502
title: Scotland takes step towards assisted suicide
author: ;Jason Osborne
link: https://gript.ie/scotland-takes-step-towards-assisted-suicide/
hash: ҹƎt[��(p[�y
tags: #Featured #News #World News #assisted suicide #Liam McArthur #Scotland
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
content:
<div><img src="https://gript.ie/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/chris-robert-k769otV8ohQ-unsplash-scaled.jpg" data-sanitized-class="ff-og-image-inserted"></div><p><strong>Dear Reader,</strong></p>
<p>It is a simple statement of fact that if you are looking for diversity of thought in the Irish media, you will struggle to find it. That is why we founded Gript – to serve the gap in the market left by so many of our colleagues, when they decided that the job of journalists was not to challenge consensus thought, but to herd around it, and defend it fiercely.</p>
<p>If you are looking for a media outlet that blames everything on the “far right” in Ireland, then you don’t have to go far to find one. If, by contrast, you are looking for a media outlet that looks beyond that cheap sloganeering, and tries to understand and report on the real concerns held by ordinary people – and a good few prominent people, albeit privately – then that is what we try to do here.</p>
<p>But we cannot do it without your support, and your subscription.</p>
<p>We reject Government funding, because, in our view, that would be the end of our independence. The moment we did so, we would begin looking over our shoulder, and wondering if our coverage of a particular issue might lead to that money being taken away. In time – not all at once, but slowly and inexorably – we would become just another safe, consensus, state-funded voice.</p>
<p>But there’s a bargain to be struck here: If you value our independence, then you must support it. If you want us to be answerable to you, then you must take a stake in our work.</p>
<p>What we try to do here is to be open, honest, and brave. That does not mean that you will always agree with us. It does mean that there will be times when we will annoy you, and publish things you disagree with: That’s part of the deal. We are independent, not servants of one cause, or another.</p>
<p>That is what media is supposed to be, but too often in Ireland no longer is. We are trying to change that, and we need your help. I am, therefore, asking for it, and would deeply appreciate a subscription at the level you can afford.</p>
<p>With gratitude,</p>
<p><strong>John</strong></p>


guid: https://www.whitehouse.gov/?p=12282
title: In Riyadh, President Trump Charts the Course for a Prosperous Future in the Middle East
author: ;The White House
hash: ���;lJ= ���+$��
tags: #Articles
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
content:
<div><img src="https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/1.jpg" data-sanitized-class="ff-og-image-inserted"></div><p>President Donald J. Trump just wrapped up a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wj1QOz3iuCE">major address</a> in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where he outlined an optimistic vision for the future of the Middle East and his approach to achieving a more stable region and peaceful world.</p>
<p><strong>Here are the top moments:</strong></p>
<ul data-sanitized-class="wp-block-list"><li>“Exactly eight years ago this month, I stood in this very room and looked forward to a future in which the nations of this region would drive out the forces of terrorism and extremism … and take your place among the proudest, most prosperous, most successful nations anywhere in the world as leaders of a modern and rising Middle East.” <a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/1922319492606030200"><em><strong>(Watch)</strong></em></a></li>
<li>“Before our eyes, a new generation of leaders is transcending the ancient conflicts and tired divisions of the past, and forging a future where the Middle East is defined by commerce, not chaos; where it exports technology, not terrorism; and where people of different nations, religions, and creeds are building cities together — not bombing each other out of existence.” <a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/1922320330107883933"><em><strong>(Watch)</strong></em></a></li>
<li>“This great transformation has not come from Western interventionists … giving you lectures on how to live or how to govern your own affairs. No, the gleaming marvels of Riyadh and Abu Dhabi were not created by the so-called ‘nation-builders,’ ‘neo-cons,’ or ‘liberal non-profits,’ like those who spent trillions failing to develop Kabul and Baghdad, so many other cities. Instead, the birth of a modern Middle East has been brought about by the people of the region themselves … developing your own sovereign countries, pursuing your own unique visions, and charting your own destinies.” <a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/1922322254622343286"><em><strong>(Watch)</strong></em></a></li>
<li>“In the end, the so-called ‘nation-builders’ wrecked far more nations than they built — and the interventionists were intervening in complex societies that they did not even understand themselves.” <a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/1922322254622343286"><em><strong>(Watch)</strong></em></a></li>
<li>“After so many decades of conflict, finally it is within our grasp to reach the future that generations before us could only dream about — a land of peace, safety, harmony, opportunity, innovation, and achievement right here in the Middle East.” <a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/1922320579098501198"><em><strong>(Watch)</strong></em></a></li>
<li>“I am here today not merely to condemn the past chaos of Iran’s leaders, but to offer them a new path and a much better path toward a far better and more hopeful future.” <a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/1922323321082778024"><em><strong>(Watch)</strong></em></a></li>
<li>“As I have shown repeatedly, I am willing to end past conflicts and forge new partnerships for a better and more stable world, even if our differences may be very profound.” <a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/1922323321082778024"><em><strong>(Watch)</strong></em></a></li>
<li>“My preference will always be for peace and partnership, whenever those outcomes can be achieved. Always.” <a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/1922339178903228908"><em><strong>(Watch)</strong></em></a></li>
<li>“In recent years, far too many American presidents have been afflicted with the notion that it’s our job to look into the souls of foreign leaders and use U.S. policy to dispense justice for their sins … I believe it is God’s job to sit in judgement — my job [is] to defend America and to promote the fundamental interests of stability, prosperity, and peace.” <a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/1922325565987537046"><em><strong>(Watch)</strong></em></a></li>
<li>“Following repeated attacks on American ships and freedom of navigation in the Red Sea, the United States military launched more than 1,100 strikes on the Houthis in Yemen. As a result, the Houthis agreed to stop … We hit them hard, we got what we came for — and then we got out.” <a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/1922325670757056672"><em><strong>(Watch)</strong></em></a></li>
<li>“My administration stands ready to help Lebanon create a future of economic development and peace with its neighbors.” <a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/1922326818234745272"><em><strong>(Watch)</strong></em></a></li>
<li>“In Syria, which has seen so much misery and death, there is a new government that will hopefully succeed in stabilizing the country and keeping peace.” <a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/1922327334863946039"><em><strong>(Watch)</strong></em></a></li>
<li>“If the responsible nations of this region seize this moment, put aside your differences and focus on the interests that unite you, then all of humanity will soon be amazed at what they will see right here in this geographic center of the world … and the spiritual heart of its greatest faiths.” <a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/1922327372474270202"><em><strong>(Watch)</strong></em></a></li>
</ul>

link:
https://www.whitehouse.gov/articles/2025/05/in-riyadh-president-trump-charts-the-course-for-a-prosperous-future-in-the-middle-east/


guid: yt:video:EQ0XtrliDEM
title: PM Carney unveils his new cabinet #cdnpoli
author: ;cpac
link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQ0XtrliDEM
hash: �⓴ [ּF����O�4
attributes:
{"enclosures":[{"url":"https://www.youtube.com/v/EQ0XtrliDEM?version=3","title":"PM Carney unveils his new cabinet #cdnpoli","description":"PM Mark Carney addressed the media after the cabinet swearing-in, saying that his “government will deliver its mandate for change with urgency and determination. We’re going to deliver that mandate with a new team, purpose-built for this hinge moment in Canada’s history.&quot;\n\nFollow our special coverage on CPAC and on social media.","type":"application/x-shockwave-flash","height":390,"width":640,"thumbnails":["https://i2.ytimg.com/vi/EQ0XtrliDEM/hqdefault.jpg"]}]}


guid: 1030153 at https://www.zerohedge.com
title: US Fast-Tracking Uranium Mine Permit To Meet "Urgent Energy Demands"
author: ;Tyler Durden
hash: �&��-��;���IM;�
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
content:
<span property="schema:name" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">US Fast-Tracking Uranium Mine Permit To Meet "Urgent Energy Demands"</span>

            <div property="schema:text" data-sanitized-class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p><a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/us-fast-tracking-uranium-mine-permit-to-meet-urgent-energy-demands-5856983?utm_source=partner&amp;utm_campaign=ZeroHedge"><em>Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times,</em></a></p>

<p>The Department of the Interior (DOI) is expediting environmental permitting review of the Velvet-Wood mine in Utah amid a national energy emergency, the agency said in a May 12 <a href="https://www.doi.gov/pressreleases/interior-expedites-permitting-critical-energy-project-address-national-energy">statement</a>.</p>

<blockquote>
<p><em>“If approved, the Velvet-Wood mine project in San Juan County, Utah, would produce uranium and vanadium,” said the agency. Uranium is used as fuel in nuclear reactors and for the production of tritium, which is required for nuclear weapons, while vanadium is used in steel production and titanium aerospace alloys.</em></p>

<p><em>“The project will undergo an accelerated environmental review by the Bureau of Land Management, with a completion timeline of 14 days. The expedited review is expected to significantly contribute to meeting urgent energy demands and addressing key threats to national energy security,” the DOI said.</em></p>
</blockquote>

<p>The United States is currently “dangerously reliant” on foreign imports to meet the demand for uranium and vanadium, according to the agency.</p>

<p><a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/image%20-%202025-05-13T093830.462.jpg?itok=xN-Gq_gD" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/image%20-%202025-05-13T093830.462.jpg?itok=xN-Gq_gD"><picture><img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="8812032f-9cea-4bb0-87d6-b7fc0f98b250" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="333" width="500" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/image%20-%202025-05-13T093830.462.jpg?itok=xN-Gq_gD" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" data-sanitized-class="inline-images image-style-inline-images"></picture></a></p>

<p><strong>In 2023, imports accounted for 99 percent of the uranium concentrate used by U.S. nuclear generators,</strong> the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in a Jan. 30 <a href="https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=64444">statement</a>.</p>

<p>According to the EIA, prior to the 1980s, the United States had <a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/us-uranium-production-hits-highest-level-in-6-years-5837297">incentives</a> and favorable trade policies that boosted domestic uranium production. After these policies ended in the 1980s, domestic output cratered.</p>

<p>For instance, the United States produced 43.7 million pounds of uranium concentrate in 1980. By 2019, this had <a href="https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=44416">dropped</a> to 174,000 pounds.</p>

<p><strong>As for vanadium, almost half of domestic consumption last year was accounted for by imports, the DOI said.</strong></p>

<p>A key security risk posed by the lack of domestic uranium and vanadium production is that America is dependent on its rivals.</p>

<p>For instance, in 2023,<strong> U.S. nuclear generators sourced uranium concentrate from sources in Russia, </strong>the DOI said. Meanwhile, Russia and China are key exporters of vanadium, according to <a href="https://wits.worldbank.org/trade/comtrade/en/country/ALL/year/2021/tradeflow/Exports/partner/WLD/product/282530">data</a> from the World Bank.</p>

<p>According to the DOI, the expedited permitting of the Velvet-Wood mine is being done in response to the national emergency <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/01/29/2025-02003/declaring-a-national-energy-emergency">declaration</a> issued by President Donald Trump via an executive order on Jan. 20.</p>

<p>The declaration said the current inadequate development of domestic energy sources makes the United States “vulnerable to hostile foreign actors” and poses a national security threat to the country.</p>

<p><em><strong>“America is facing an alarming energy emergency because of the prior administration’s Climate Extremist policies,”</strong> Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said.</em></p>

<p><em>“President Trump and his administration are responding with speed and strength to solve this crisis.</em></p>

<p><em>“<strong>The expedited mining project review represents exactly the kind of decisive action we need to secure our energy future</strong>. By cutting needless delays, we’re supporting good-paying American jobs while strengthening our national security and putting the country on a path to true energy independence.”</em></p>

<h2>Speeding Up Critical Resources Development</h2>

<p>On April 23, the DOI <a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/interior-department-to-reduce-approval-times-for-energy-projects-to-28-days-5846750">announced</a> that it was implementing emergency permitting procedures to speed up the development of critical minerals and energy resources.</p>

<p><strong>Approval times will be reduced to a maximum of 28 days from the months or years it used to take, the department said.</strong></p>

<p>The policy is applicable to a wide range of energy sources such as oil, gas, uranium, geothermal, biofuels, and coal. Solar and wind were not listed.</p>

<p><em><strong>“The United States cannot afford to wait,” </strong></em>Burgum said.<em><strong> “By reducing a multi-year permitting process down to just 28 days, the Department will lead with urgency, resolve, and a clear focus on strengthening the nation’s energy independence.”</strong></em></p>

<p>In an April 24 <a href="https://www.sierraclub.org/press-releases/2025/04/sierra-club-statement-interior-s-axing-environmental-review-mere-formality">statement</a>, environmental advocacy group the Sierra Club criticized the DOI policy, calling the reduced time limit “troublingly short.”</p>

<p><em>“These arbitrary time limits make a complete review of the risks of potentially hazardous projects impossible,” said Athan Manuel, director of the Sierra Club’s Lands Protection Program.</em></p>

<p><em>“A shoddy review means the true hazards of a project may only be known when the air or water thousands of people rely on is dangerously polluted.”</em></p>

<p>On March 20, Trump <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/immediate-measures-to-increase-american-mineral-production/">signed</a> an executive order to take “immediate measures” to boost mineral production in the United States.</p>

<p><em><strong>“China, Iran, and Russia control large deposits of several minerals critical to the U.S., posing a national security risk. 70 percent of U.S. imports of rare earths come from China,”</strong> a March 20 White House <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/03/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-takes-immediate-action-to-increase-american-mineral-production/">fact sheet</a> said.</em></p>

<p><em>“Critical minerals are essential for U.S. military readiness, as they are key components in fighter jets, satellites, submarines, smart bombs, and missile guidance systems,” it said, adding that “financing, loans, and investment support will be provided for new mineral production projects.”</em></p>
</div>
      <span rel="schema:author" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" xml:lang="" data-sanitized-class="username">Tyler Durden</a></span>
<span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-05-13T19:25:00+00:00" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden">Tue, 05/13/2025 - 15:25</span>

link:
https://www.zerohedge.com/commodities/us-fast-tracking-uranium-mine-permit-meet-urgent-energy-demands


guid: yt:video:ZRUc108woo8
title: Live with Helga Zepp-LaRouche: Three Stooges Plus One Rally Behind the Puppet Zelensky
author: ;Schiller Institute
link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRUc108woo8
hash: &�� �Ds��5��j=�
attributes:
{"enclosures":[{"url":"https://www.youtube.com/v/ZRUc108woo8?version=3","title":"Live with Helga Zepp-LaRouche: Three Stooges Plus One Rally Behind the Puppet Zelensky","description":"At 2 a.m. Sunday morning, May 11, Russian President Vladimir Putin, after three full days of non-stop meetings and ceremonies devoted to the commemoration of the Victory against Fascism in Europe, held a press conference and proposed the resumption of full negotiations with Ukraine to put an end to what is actually a NATO war imposed on that nation. Putin proposed that these negotiations restart in Istanbul, Türkiye this Thursday, May 15.\n\nThe European leaders who had joined Zelenskyy in Kiev, in direct opposition to the 30 heads of state who had assembled in Moscow for the Great Victory, had demanded a few hours earlier that a 30-day ceasefire begin Monday morning. They were, however, caught sleeping, in more ways than one, by Putin’s 2 a.m. press conference, and his unexpected proposal. “Russia is ready for talks without any preliminary conditions. There are combat actions and war going on now, and we propose to resume negotiations that were not interrupted by us. Well, what’s wrong about it?”\n\nAs Putin and others know, it was Ukraine that ceased the discussions that were terminated in Istanbul, Türkiye, in April 2022. Of course, it was then Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Great Britain who had, on April 9 of that year, traveled to Kiev to demand that Ukraine walk away from the already-agreed negotiations with Russia—and Ukraine had done so. To this day, Ukraine’s decree, passed in their parliament in late 2022, forbids any Ukrainian President from negotiating with Russia, so long as Putin remains in power. Ukraine “is still legally prohibited from negotiating with the Russian side,” said Russian Presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov in March.\n\nSo, although a blustering Volodymyr Zelenskyy later on Sunday dared Putin, “High Noon” Western-style, to “meet him in Istanbul” this Thursday, Ukraine’s unelected leader knows that the Russians are aware that the Kiev decree is still in effect. U.S. President Donald Trump—not one to stand on ceremony, certainly—had advice for Ukraine: “President Putin of Russia doesn’t want to have a Cease Fire Agreement with Ukraine, but rather wants to meet on Thursday, in Turkey, to negotiate a possible end to the BLOODBATH. Ukraine should agree to this, IMMEDIATELY. At least they will be able to determine whether or not a deal is possible, and if it is not, European leaders, and the U.S., will know where everything stands, and can proceed accordingly!” While many have asserted for days that “no one knows where Trump stands” on the matter of Russia and Ukraine, today’s statement is unequivocal: “Ukraine should agree to this, IMMEDIATELY.”\n\nOne of the outflanked European heads of state who met with Zelensky is Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who is the first chancellor in the post-war era to have the dubious honor of being crowned chancellor only after a second round of voting. In mid-April, the very same Friedrich Merz suggested on ARD television's Carmen Miosga show that German Taurus long-range missiles should be sent to Ukraine so that the country could get off the defensive after three years of war against Russia. Merz mentioned the possibility of destroying the most important land link between Russia and the Crimean peninsula, as an option. Merz had already supported the delivery of cruise missiles to Ukraine before the early parliamentary elections on February 23. According to media reports, both Friedrich Merz and government spokesman Stefan Kornelius have stated that details and discussions regarding the Taurus delivery will not be made public in the future. What might that mean?\n\nHelga Zepp-LaRouche and Dr. Werner Rügemer, in a joint live dialogue on January 29, had already warned against Merz, the Chancellor from Black Rock.\n\nThe second notable event Sunday was that newly-elected Pope Leo XIV, appearing in St. Peter’s Square before more than 100,000 people, and unexpectedly leading the open-air assembly in the singing of the “Regina Caeli” Easter antiphon. Leo, who is the first member of the Augustinian order to be elected to the Papacy, the first native-English-language Pope since Pope Adrian IV of the 12th century, and the first Pope from the United States, also made clear why he chose his name. “In his first meeting with Cardinals on Saturday, the new Pontiff said that he chose his papal name to continue down the path of Pope Leo XIII, who addressed ‘the social question in the context of the first great industrial revolution.’” CNN reported.\n\nConsider these two very different “flanks” as flowing from one, higher strategy of victory for the human race. War must become obsolete, but that cannot happen unless the cause of war is removed. For that to occur, the world requires “A Beautiful Vision for Humanity in Times of Great Turbulence!” Such is the subject, purpose, and mission of the May 24-25 conference of the Schiller Institute.","type":"application/x-shockwave-flash","height":390,"width":640,"thumbnails":["https://i3.ytimg.com/vi/ZRUc108woo8/hqdefault.jpg"]}]}


guid: https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/2164778/enquete-saaqclic-commission-gallant-contrat
title: Enquête SAAQclic : des problèmes dans les contrats informatiques au Québec depuis 2006
link: https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/2164778/enquete-saaqclic-commission-gallant-contrat
hash: ��,6��:��#�$f�}
content:
<p>Plusieurs rapports ont souligné des problèmes dans les contrats et les projets en transformation numérique.</p>

attributes:
{"enclosures":[{"url":"https://images.radio-canada.ca/q_auto,w_635,h_357/v1/ici-info/transit/16x9/debut-de-la-commission-gallant-ce-matin-a-montreal-commission-denquete-sur-la-gestion-de-la-modernisation-des-systemes-informatiques-de-la-saaq-photo-prise-au-500-boul-rene-levesque-ouest-a-mont-63644.jpg","type":"image/jpeg","length":0}]}


guid: 1030164 at https://www.zerohedge.com
title: Bitcoin Treasury Exposure Goes Mainstream As Coinbase Soars On Joining The S&amp;P 500
author: ;Tyler Durden
link: https://www.zerohedge.com/crypto/coinbase-joins-sp-500-bitcoin-treasury-exposure-goes-mainstream
hash: �%}I��;t�0��8��
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
content:
<span property="schema:name" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Bitcoin Treasury Exposure Goes Mainstream As Coinbase Soars On Joining The S&amp;P 500</span>

            <div property="schema:text" data-sanitized-class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p><strong>On May 19, 2025, Coinbase will officially join the S&amp;P 500</strong> - widely regarded as the most trusted, most tracked equity index in the world. With over <strong>$5 trillion in assets benchmarked to it</strong>, the S&amp;P 500 isn’t just a measure of corporate strength - it’s a gravitational center of global capital allocation.</p>

<p>And starting next week, it will include <strong>a <a href="https://bitcoinmagazine.com/bitcoin-for-corporations/how-a-bitcoin-treasury-turns-the-corporate-balance-sheet-into-a-capital-creation-platform">Bitcoin treasury</a> company</strong>.</p>

<p>Coinbase currently holds <strong>9,267 BTC</strong> on its balance sheet, valued at <strong>$963.8 million</strong> at today’s price of <strong>$104,000 per Bitcoin</strong>, making it the <strong>9th largest public corporate Bitcoin holder globally</strong>.</p>

<p><a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/Coinbase-Joins-the-SP-500-as-Bit.jpg?itok=TVTcxlXO" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/Coinbase-Joins-the-SP-500-as-Bit.jpg?itok=TVTcxlXO"><picture><img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="20149f5a-99c5-4017-8970-f3fb31fb14cb" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="262" width="500" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/Coinbase-Joins-the-SP-500-as-Bit.jpg?itok=TVTcxlXO" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" data-sanitized-class="inline-images image-style-inline-images"></picture></a></p>

<p><a href="https://bitcoinmagazine.com/bitcoin-for-corporations/coinbase-joins-sp500-bitcoin-treasury-goes-mainstream">As Nick Ward reports for BitcoinMagazine.com,</a> <strong>this marks a quiet turning point for Bitcoin in capital markets - one that reframes the treasury conversation and reshapes how companies think about index eligibility</strong>, institutional flows, and balance sheet strategy.</p>

<p><a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/2025-05-13_11-58-45_0.jpg?itok=Ci010k2s" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/2025-05-13_11-58-45_0.jpg?itok=Ci010k2s"><picture><img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="28731cc0-6582-4e57-930c-3910723c6245" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="394" width="500" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/2025-05-13_11-58-45_0.jpg?itok=Ci010k2s" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" data-sanitized-class="inline-images image-style-inline-images"></picture></a></p>

<h2><strong>The Most Passive Flows in Finance Just Found Bitcoin</strong></h2>

<p>Coinbase’s addition to the index means something profound: <strong>millions of investors will soon have indirect exposure to Bitcoin—and they didn’t choose it.</strong></p>

<p>Because the S&amp;P 500 is tracked by passive strategies, funds and institutions must purchase Coinbase stock in proportion to its index weight. If Coinbase is assigned even a <strong>0.20% weighting</strong>, that implies <strong>more than $10 billion in net inflows</strong> from index-tracking vehicles.</p>

<p>This is not speculative capital. This is <strong>mandatory exposure</strong>—capital governed by rules, not conviction.</p>

<p>And for the first time, those rules lead directly to Bitcoin.</p>

<h2><strong>Bitcoin Treasuries Are Now Index-Eligible</strong></h2>

<p>For years, Bitcoin on the corporate balance sheet was treated as a novelty—or worse, a liability. But Coinbase’s inclusion signals something different: <strong>Bitcoin exposure is now compatible with the highest standards of institutional eligibility.</strong></p>

<p>It’s a powerful validation for public companies already holding Bitcoin—and a strategic consideration for those that aren’t. Index inclusion is not reserved for fiat-only treasuries. Coinbase’s addition confirms that <strong>sound operations and a Bitcoin-aligned balance sheet are not mutually exclusive</strong>.</p>

<p>In fact, they may now be complementary.</p>

<h2><strong>Strategy May Be Next to Join The S&amp;P 500</strong></h2>

<p><a href="https://www.coinbase.com/">Coinbase</a> may be the first S&amp;P 500 company with a Bitcoin treasury—but it likely won’t be the last.</p>

<p><strong>Strategy ($MSTR), formerly MicroStrategy</strong>, is widely viewed as the next potential candidate. The company meets many of the S&amp;P 500’s baseline criteria:</p>

<ul><li>
	<p>It is U.S.-based and publicly listed on the Nasdaq.</p>
	</li>
	<li>
	<p>It has sufficient free float and market capitalization.</p>
	</li>
	<li>
	<p>Its last four quarters of GAAP earnings are positive.</p>
	</li>
</ul><p>And perhaps most notably: <strong><a href="https://bitcoinmagazine.com/news/strategy-ceo-makes-the-case-for-corporate-bitcoin-adoption-in-mit-keynote">Strategy</a> is the largest corporate Bitcoin holder in the world—by far</strong>.</p>

<p>As of today, it holds <strong>568,840 BTC</strong>, currently worth <strong>$59.16 billion</strong>.</p>

<p>Its balance sheet is no longer just Bitcoin-heavy - it is Bitcoin-native. If admitted, <a href="https://bitcoinmagazine.com/bitcoin-for-corporations/8-lessons-in-bitcoin-treasury-strategy-from-the-strategy-mstr-q1-call">Strategy</a> would represent an even deeper exposure to Bitcoin inside the world’s most influential index.</p>

<p>This matters. Because it signals that <strong>Bitcoin is becoming a foundational component of corporate capital formation—not an outlier.</strong></p>

<h2><strong>From Signal to Strategy: A New Corporate Playbook</strong></h2>

<p>Coinbase’s entry - and Strategy’s potential follow-on - reinforces an emerging thesis: <strong>a Bitcoin treasury can enhance a company’s capital profile—not detract from it.</strong></p>

<p>Here’s why:</p>

<ul><li>
	<p><strong>Visibility:</strong> Index inclusion provides perpetual exposure to new capital.</p>
	</li>
	<li>
	<p><strong>Flows:</strong> Passive funds are forced buyers—providing liquidity and price support.</p>
	</li>
	<li>
	<p><strong>Perception:</strong> Bitcoin is no longer a reputational liability—it’s becoming a marker of long-term vision and resilience.</p>
	</li>
</ul><p>In this context, treasury strategy becomes <strong>a capital markets strategy</strong>. Holding Bitcoin isn’t just about hedging inflation or diversifying reserves—it’s about aligning your company with where capital is flowing.</p>

<h2><strong>BFC Perspective: The Bridge Has Been Crossed</strong></h2>

<p>From a Bitcoin For Corporations standpoint, this is not just news—it’s <strong>a case study in what institutional acceptance looks like</strong>.</p>

<p>Coinbase has:</p>

<ul><li>
	<p>Navigated the public markets as a Bitcoin-native company,</p>
	</li>
	<li>
	<p>Maintained a material Bitcoin treasury position, and</p>
	</li>
	<li>
	<p>Demonstrated that such positioning is not a barrier to index inclusion—it can be a feature.</p>
	</li>
</ul><p>And Strategy, with its commanding treasury and growing influence, may soon follow—cementing Bitcoin’s place at the core of U.S. corporate indices.</p>

<p>This should embolden public companies and pre-IPO candidates alike. It’s proof that Bitcoin alignment doesn’t isolate you from the traditional system—it can embed you deeper into it.</p>

<p>This is the BFC thesis in action: <strong>Bitcoin-native capital structures are compatible with institutional legitimacy.</strong></p>

<h2><strong>What Comes Next: Bitcoin Is Entering the Core Portfolio</strong></h2>

<p>With Coinbase’s S&amp;P 500 inclusion and Strategy potentially next, the implications are clear:</p>

<ul><li>
	<p>Bitcoin is no longer confined to speculative portfolios.</p>
	</li>
	<li>
	<p>Bitcoin treasuries are now appearing in <strong>default</strong> asset allocations.</p>
	</li>
	<li>
	<p>The <strong>passive indexing era</strong> is now passively onboarding Bitcoin—whether the end investor realizes it or not.</p>
	</li>
</ul><p>For CFOs and capital allocators, the takeaway is simple: <strong>Bitcoin on the balance sheet is no longer a bet - it’s a bridge.</strong> To the index. To the allocators. To the long game.</p>

<p>With Coinbase joining the S&amp;P 500, Bitcoin exposure is entering the core of institutional portfolios—not through a financial product, but via a public company’s balance sheet. As Strategy positions to follow, this marks a broader shift: Bitcoin treasury strategy is becoming part of the mainstream capital structure.</p>
</div>
      <span rel="schema:author" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" xml:lang="" data-sanitized-class="username">Tyler Durden</a></span>
<span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-05-13T19:52:00+00:00" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden">Tue, 05/13/2025 - 15:52</span>


guid: yt:video:8qoFuYLKmzY
title: Le PM Carney dévoile son nouveau cabinet #polcan
author: ;cpac
link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qoFuYLKmzY
hash: .:+F)ؽ�4h���
attributes:
{"enclosures":[{"url":"https://www.youtube.com/v/8qoFuYLKmzY?version=3","title":"Le PM Carney dévoile son nouveau cabinet #polcan","description":"Le premier ministre Mark Carney affirme, à la suite de l'assermentation de son nouveau conseil des ministres, vouloir « travailler avec l'ensemble de nos partenaires pour atteindre nos objectifs et réaliser les changements désirés par les Canadiens. »\n\nSuivez-nous sur CPAC et sur nos réseaux sociaux pour ne rien manquer de la politique canadienne.","type":"application/x-shockwave-flash","height":390,"width":640,"thumbnails":["https://i1.ytimg.com/vi/8qoFuYLKmzY/hqdefault.jpg"]}]}


guid: https://www.mondialisation.ca/?p=5698587
title: Le 9 mai en Russie: les alliances existantes et futures
author: ;Mikhail Gamandiy-Egorov
link: https://www.mondialisation.ca/le-9-mai-en-russie-les-alliances-existantes-et-futures/5698587
hash: S��� D�꒡%��K�
tags: #Francais @fr
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
content:
<p><strong>Les multiples rencontres récentes en Russie ont été l’occasion de réaffirmer plusieurs alliances déjà existantes et ouvrir la voie à d’autres, dans un cadre où la Russie, la Chine et le Sud global joueront ensemble un rôle clé dans les </strong>…</p>


guid: yt:video:hecVjZgu3xw
title: Pierre Poilievre commente le nouveau cabinet Carney #polcan
author: ;cpac
link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hecVjZgu3xw
hash: .Q85)A�4D�d-��"
attributes:
{"enclosures":[{"url":"https://www.youtube.com/v/hecVjZgu3xw?version=3","title":"Pierre Poilievre commente le nouveau cabinet Carney #polcan","description":"Réagissant à l'assermentation du conseil des ministres, le chef conservateur Pierre Poilievre promet d'appuyer des politiques du nouveau gouvernement qui furent inspirées de sa propre campagne et suggère même au PM de voler ses idées. « Je veux que vous voliez mes idées. »\n\nSuivez-nous sur CPAC et sur nos réseaux sociaux pour ne rien manquer de la politique canadienne.","type":"application/x-shockwave-flash","height":390,"width":640,"thumbnails":["https://i1.ytimg.com/vi/hecVjZgu3xw/hqdefault.jpg"]}]}


guid: https://www.mondialisation.ca/?p=5698591
title: Macron: l’armée ukrainienne est en première ligne, les troupes alliées en deuxième
author: ;Philippe Rosenthal
hash: ��OrF��6�����?�
tags: #Francais @fr #Mobile #France #ukraine
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
content:
<p><strong>Le président français, Emmanuel Macron, émet de nouveau l’idée d’envoyer des soldats sur le sol en Ukraine sur fond de cessez-le-feu pour faire pression sur la Russie. Il attise – encore – les tensions et les provocations alors que la </strong>…</p>

link:
https://www.mondialisation.ca/macron-larmee-ukrainienne-est-en-premiere-ligne-les-troupes-alliees-en-deuxieme/5698591


guid: 1030201 at https://www.zerohedge.com
title: Nodule Found In Biden's Prostate During Routine Exam
author: ;Tyler Durden
link: https://www.zerohedge.com/medical/nodule-found-bidens-prostate-during-routine-exam
hash: �4� �d� �7b���
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
content:
<span property="schema:name" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Nodule Found In Biden's Prostate During Routine Exam</span>

            <div property="schema:text" data-sanitized-class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p><a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/nodule-found-in-bidens-prostate-during-routine-exam-spokesperson-5857179?utm_source=partner&amp;utm_campaign=ZeroHedge"><em>Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times,</em></a></p>

<p>A small nodule was found in former President Joe Biden’s prostate during an exam, a spokesperson told news outlets on May 13.</p>

<p><em><strong>“In a routine physical exam, a small nodule was found in the prostate, which necessitated further evaluation,”</strong></em> the Biden spokesperson said.</p>

<p>It’s not clear whether the additional evaluation has already taken place and, if it has, what it showed.</p>

<p><a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/image%20-%202025-05-13T130503.234.jpg?itok=fT14_qSd" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/image%20-%202025-05-13T130503.234.jpg?itok=fT14_qSd"><picture><img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="9e07b290-7821-4757-87f5-536a217660c0" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="333" width="500" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/image%20-%202025-05-13T130503.234.jpg?itok=fT14_qSd" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" data-sanitized-class="inline-images image-style-inline-images"></picture></a></p>

<p><strong>A nodule could indicate the presence of prostate cancer.</strong></p>

<p>Out of every 100 men in America, about 13 will suffer from prostate cancer during their lifetime, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. </p>

<p>Early treatment can eliminate the cancer, which is fatal in a minority of cases.</p>

<p><strong>The most common risk factor is age. Biden is 82.</strong></p>

<p>Biden <a href="https://bidenwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2024/08/30/a-proclamation-on-national-prostate-cancer-awareness-month-2024/">wrote</a> in an Aug. 20, 2024, proclamation during National Prostate Cancer Awareness Month that “we mourn all the courageous men we have tragically lost too soon to prostate cancer” and “we honor the extraordinary resilience of those currently living with and surviving this disease.”</p>

<p>Biden left office in January after a single term. He initially launched a reelection bid, but later dropped out under pressure from some fellow Democrats due to his advanced age. President Donald Trump, 78, beat former Vice President Kamala Harris, 60, in the 2024 election.</p>

<p>Dr. Kevin O‘Connor, Biden’s physician, reported in 2023 that Biden had a cancerous lesion removed from his chest. The area around the biopsy site was treated, O’Connor said, and no further treatment was required.</p>

<p><em><strong>“The site of the biopsy has healed nicely and the President will continue dermatologic surveillance as part of his ongoing comprehensive healthcare,”</strong></em> he wrote at the time.</p>

<p>O'Connor also said in 2019 that Biden had a polyp removed from his colon, describing the polyp as “potentially pre-cancerous.”</p>

<p>One of Biden’s sons, Beau, died in 2015 from brain cancer.</p>

<p>Ahead of the election in 2024, O'Connor <a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/doctor-says-biden-fit-for-duty-after-physical-but-no-cognitive-screening-5597735">said</a> that an examination showed that Biden was healthy and active.</p>

<p>Biden “remains fit to successfully execute the duties of the Presidency, to include those as Chief Executive, Head of State and Commander in Chief,” O'Connor wrote in a summary of the exam.</p>

<p><strong>In his first interview since Trump was sworn in, Biden <a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/biden-sits-down-with-abcs-the-view-in-1st-interview-since-leaving-office-5854483">said</a> recently that he did not have any cognitive issues and that he understands the concerns about his age.</strong></p>

<p><em>“I get it,” Biden said. “I understand the concern. I really do. But the point of the matter is that I would offer specific evidence, if we had time, [of] exactly what I got done when I supposedly lost my cognitive capability.”</em></p>
</div>
      <span rel="schema:author" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" xml:lang="" data-sanitized-class="username">Tyler Durden</a></span>
<span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-05-13T20:20:00+00:00" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden">Tue, 05/13/2025 - 16:20</span>


guid: 6165d5e4ab2c8b5f79b5d82e:6165f805cc4a70035862ada3:68238754aed5fb4349c12eb5
title: Welcome to Carnada
author: ;Lisa P
link: https://www.rightsprobe.org/read/welcome-to-carnada
hash: �� ��� ��f*J�
content:
<p data-sanitized-class="">By David Solway | Published by PJ Media</p><p data-sanitized-class=""><strong>Summary</strong></p><p data-sanitized-class="">Prime Minister Mark Carney epitomizes what author David Goodhart terms the “Anywheres”—a mobile elite prioritizing global governance over national or regional interests, writes Canadian poet and essayist David Solway. As such, Solway argues Carney’s policies align with supranational bodies (WEF, WHO, UN), clash with “Somewheres” (locally rooted citizens who tend to be more conservative) and passive “Unawares” (disengaged voters “who remain in thrall to the Anywheres”). The Somewheres and Anywheres formed Goodhart’s faultlines for mapping Brexit Britain’s divisions. Solway adds in the third distinction of “Unawares” for Canada.</p><p data-sanitized-class="">According to Solway, it is the complacent “Unawares” who elected Carney without scrutinizing his globalist ties and he takes them to task. He further laments a populace that has prioritized state-managed “safety” over liberty, enabling Canada’s transformation into “Carnada”—a vassal state to undemocratic global entities. This complacency, he argues, emboldens Carney’s alliance with plutocratic oligarchs, NGO parasites, and ideological extremists to erode national sovereignty.</p><p data-sanitized-class="">Solway frames Carney’s leadership as a catalyst for Alberta’s separatist momentum, and one that exposes the country’s fundamental rift between globalist centralization and regional self-determination. Queen’s University law professor <strong>Bruce Pardy</strong>’s <a href="https://www.rightsprobe.org/alberta-declaration-of-independence"><em>Alberta Declaration of Independence</em></a> crystallizes the province’s grievances, says Solway. The prairies reject Canada’s “deference to authority” ethos and advocate self-rule akin to U.S. states like Texas and Montana. The path forward suggested hinges on overcoming complacency and embracing the prairie provinces’ model of innovation and independence.</p><p data-sanitized-class="">Alas, laments Solway, “It seems a plurality of Canadians are content to live in a country that would be more accurately named Carnada.”</p><p data-sanitized-class=""><a href="https://pjmedia.com/david-solway-2/2025/05/12/welcome-to-carnada-n4939701" target="_blank">Read the original text of this commentary at the publisher’s website here</a>.</p>





















  
  



<hr>


  <p data-sanitized-class="">Follow our journey.</p><p data-sanitized-class="">Subscribe to our newsletter: <a href="mailto:rightsprobe@protonmail.com?" target="_blank">rightsprobe@protonmail.com</a></p>

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guid: https://ici.radio-canada.ca/fiches/12855/cabinet-carney-gouvernement-canada
title: Qui sont les 28 ministres du Cabinet Carney?
link: https://ici.radio-canada.ca/fiches/12855/cabinet-carney-gouvernement-canada
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content:
<p>Découvrez les responsabilités des 14 femmes et 14 hommes composant le Conseil des ministres de Mark Carney.</p>

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guid: yt:video:RdBFWpUNJ1s
title: Poilievre reacts to PM Carney's new cabinet #cdnpoli
author: ;cpac
link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdBFWpUNJ1s
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guid: 1030190 at https://www.zerohedge.com
title: 'Biggest Untold Story in Tech': Explosive Book Reveals How Apple Sold Out America To China
author: ;Tyler Durden
hash: g�RFR��N�4�h�,E4
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content:
<span property="schema:name" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">'Biggest Untold Story in Tech': Explosive Book Reveals How Apple Sold Out America To China </span>

            <div property="schema:text" data-sanitized-class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p><strong>Financial Times journalist Patrick McGee has released a gripping new book that meticulously exposes Apple’s deeply troubling ties with China</strong>, revealing how these connections fueled the communist regime’s rise to a global manufacturing powerhouse.</p>
<a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/inline-images/apple%20in%20china.JPG?itok=s_cKTNj6" data-link-option="0" href="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/inline-images/apple%20in%20china.JPG?itok=s_cKTNj6"><picture><figure role="group" data-sanitized-class="caption caption-img inline-images image-style-inline-images"><img alt="" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="df5a4cf1-b74d-4e86-83fd-5e43b2d731d9" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="310" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/apple%20in%20china.JPG?itok=s_cKTNj6" typeof="foaf:Image" width="500"><figcaption><em>(Nikkei Montage / Reuters)</em></figcaption></figure></picture></a>

<p>In an interview with The Free Press founder Bari Weiss, McGee revealed key insights from his new book, <em>Apple in China</em>, detailing Apple’s complex relationship with the country.</p>

<p>Presently,<strong> approximately 155 million Americans own an iPhone</strong> - a remarkable figure that McGee contends would have been unattainable without Apple’s substantial investments in China.</p>

<p>“I think it’s fairly straightforward that <strong>China is the only place on the planet that has the tech competence in terms of manufacturing capability, certainly the price, the cost, the quantity, the scale,</strong>” McGee told Weiss. My novel argument is that it has those skills because Apple built them there, right?<strong> It’s not that China offered something to Apple. Apple didn’t find these skills in China; it shipped people over by the plane load and created them.</strong>”</p>

<blockquote data-sanitized-class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en">.<a href="https://twitter.com/PatrickMcGee_?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PatrickMcGee_</a> lays out how Apple helped China become a manufacturing superpower:<br><br>
"The number of people they trained in China since 2008 is 28 million people—larger than California's labor force."<br><br>
"Apple is investing in China at twice the annual spend of the Marshall Plan." <a href="https://t.co/PHDHLSBHKz">pic.twitter.com/PHDHLSBHKz</a></p>
— Josh Caplan (@joshdcaplan) <a href="https://twitter.com/joshdcaplan/status/1922296646274072966?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 13, 2025</a></blockquote>
<p>“And so it’s this another layer of nuance that <strong>Apple is dependent on the very capabilities that it created. </strong>And I think this is like the biggest untold story in tech over the last 25 years. And like, my jaw was on the floor as I talked to 200 people and sort of unraveled it all. But I mean, some of the numbers— anytime you’re dealing with Apple, the numbers are just crazy. And so the two numbers that really stick out at me are that <strong>the number of people they have trained in China since 2008 is 28 million</strong>,” the <em>Apple in China authored continued.” </em></p>

<p>“<strong>That’s larger than the labor force of California.</strong> And the investments they were making in China by 2015 were $55 billion a year. And that’s such a large number that I couldn’t find any corporate equivalent,” he added. “I had to go to nation-building efforts, and I took the Marshall Plan, the most famous nation-building effort ever, converted it to 2015 dollars, and you realize that Apple’s investing in China twice that of the annual spend of the Marshall Plan. And the Marshall Plan was for 16 countries.”</p>

<p>McGee outlines Apple's production hurdles and economic incentives that propelled this transformative shift, which he compares to a geopolitical event as significant as the fall of the Berlin Wall.</p>

<p>“I have these chapters in the book where they're trying to build iPods and the Sunflower iMac. You might remember it; it sort of looks anthropomorphic, like a Pixar lamp.<strong> It's really sexy, and my God, is it a complicated product to build</strong>,” McGee said. “And so Apple's trying to do it in Taiwan, but with the help of Singapore, Japan—you know, basically all of Southeast Asia, including China. But the more you're doing things a little bit in China and comparing the costs, the flexible demand of labor, and just the armies of affordable labor, the more it looks like China is the way to go.<strong> And they just rapidly begin to consolidate in 2003.</strong>”</p>

<blockquote data-sanitized-class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en">Author <a href="https://twitter.com/PatrickMcGee_?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PatrickMcGee_</a>: The West “sleepwalked” into making China a global powerhouse.<br><br>
Corporations like Apple “were setting up the world’s most sophisticated supply chain—and made the rookie and calamitous mistake of putting all their eggs in one basket. And that basket… <a href="https://t.co/ASZTatTikm">pic.twitter.com/ASZTatTikm</a></p>
— Honestly with Bari Weiss (@thehonestlypod) <a href="https://twitter.com/thehonestlypod/status/1922337007457505444?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 13, 2025</a></blockquote>
<p>“So, the sort of fun line I have is that<strong> in 1999, zero products from Apple were being made in China. By 2009, virtually all of them were.</strong> And that transition, I compare to a geopolitical event, like the fall of the Berlin Wall. But it took place over many years. And it's one that I don't think we've really grappled with or understood,” the author added.</p>

<p><strong>Under Tim Cook’s leadership, Apple has significantly deepened its investment in China, </strong>most notably through a secretive $275 billion, five-year agreement signed in 2016 with Chinese officials to bolster the country’s economy and technological capabilities, <a href="https://www.theinformation.com/articles/facing-hostile-chinese-authorities-apple-ceo-signed-275-billion-deal-with-them">The Information</a> reported in 2021. The deal, aimed at mitigating regulatory threats, included commitments to build new retail stores, research and development centers, and renewable energy projects, while fostering partnerships with local suppliers like Foxconn and enhancing China’s supply chain infrastructure.</p>

<p><iframe allow="accelerometer; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/q852nEpYJAo?si=bs-KMjlr1u22BBeC" title="YouTube video player" width="560" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin"></iframe></p>

<p>President Donald Trump has been pushing Apple to move its manufacturing away from China, primarily through aggressive tariff policies aimed at incentivizing U.S.-based production. Since his first term, Trump has consistently advocated for Apple to bring iPhone and other product manufacturing to the United States, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2016/11/17/trump-cant-make-apples-iphone-manufacturing-come-back-and-it-wouldnt-help-if-he-could/">famously vowing</a> in 2016, “<strong>I’m going to get Apple to start making their computers and their iPhones on our land, not in China.</strong>”</p>

<p>Apple has responded by <a href="https://www.zerohedge.com/technology/apple-turbocharges-friendshoring-your-next-iphone-could-be-made-india">shifting production</a> for U.S.-bound iPhones to India and iPads, Apple Watches, and other products to Vietnam, with Cook confirming that by 2026, most iPhones sold in the U.S. will be made in India.</p>

<p>In February 2025, Apple <a href="https://www.zerohedge.com/technology/apple-goes-maga-announces-500-billion-investment-america-plans-20000-new-jobs">announced</a> a commitment to invest over $500 billion in the U.S. over the next four years, aimed at strengthening domestic manufacturing and advancing semiconductor production.</p>
</div>
      <span rel="schema:author" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" xml:lang="" data-sanitized-class="username">Tyler Durden</a></span>
<span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-05-13T20:40:00+00:00" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden">Tue, 05/13/2025 - 16:40</span>

link:
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/biggest-untold-story-tech-explosive-book-reveals-how-apple-sold-out-america-china


guid: yt:video:hxF6Iq1YXQg
title: Prof. Gilbert Doctorow : EU Nonsense on Ukraine!
author: ;Judge Napolitano - Judging Freedom
link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxF6Iq1YXQg
hash: �F47)ַ��F-^�m��
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guid: 1030156 at https://www.zerohedge.com
title: DOGE's Second Act
author: ;Tyler Durden
link: https://www.zerohedge.com/political/doges-second-act
hash: �˽a��p �b��TO
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
content:
<span property="schema:name" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">DOGE's Second Act</span>

            <div property="schema:text" data-sanitized-class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p><a href="https://openthebooks.substack.com/p/doges-second-act"><em>Via OpenTheBooks.substack.com,</em></a></p>

<p><em><strong>As Elon Musk steps back, Congress, agencies and We the People need to step up...</strong></em></p>

<p><a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/httpssubstack-post-media.s3.amaz%20%2854%29_2.jpg?itok=DgJwsMeO" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/httpssubstack-post-media.s3.amaz%20%2854%29_2.jpg?itok=DgJwsMeO"><picture><img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="f12f99d4-6f5c-465a-9366-3666f42b9371" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="332" width="500" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/httpssubstack-post-media.s3.amaz%20%2854%29_2.jpg?itok=DgJwsMeO" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" data-sanitized-class="inline-images image-style-inline-images"></picture></a></p>

<p>When Elon Musk announced on a less-than-stellar Tesla earnings call that “starting probably next month, May, my time allocation to DOGE will drop significantly,”<strong> DOGE critics rejoiced.</strong></p>

<p>Yet, as Teddy Roosevelt so aptly said, <strong>it’s not the critic who counts, but the person who enters the arena.</strong></p>

<p>President Trump praised Musk at his cabinet meeting marking his first 100 days and said Musk “opened up a lot of eyes as to what could be done.” </p>

<p><strong>Trump signaled DOGE’s first act was coming to a close, and its second act was about to begin.</strong></p>

<p>At Open the Books, we’re committed to transparency and helping taxpayers understand what DOGE has uncovered. Taxpayers deserve to know what cuts have been made and what remains to be done. Critics have raised concerns in both good and bad faith, in my view, and we’re committed to a reality-based conversation about the data and results.</p>

<p>I’m appreciative of Musk’s effort because I know first-hand what it’s like to be demonized for trying to downsize the modern administrative state. As the long-time Communications Director and co-author for the late U.S. Representative and Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK), I spent nearly 15 years in constant combat with people who treated commonsense restraint as a crime against humanity.</p>

<p>Coburn, a practicing physician and citizen legislator, believed in radical concepts like reading bills before you voted on them and paying for bills that spent new money by spending less money elsewhere. He believed the Senate, the world’s greatest deliberative body, needed more debate not less. Instead of bending the knee to Senate norms like passing “non-controversial” bills by unanimous consent, Coburn would hold bills until savings could be discovered or at least debated. Some of his colleagues derided his desire for open debate as “obstructionism” and called him “Dr. No.”</p>

<p>In 2008, Coburn’s commitment to deliberation and spending offsets pushed then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) over the edge. Reid <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/coburn-gets-best-of-reid-on-omnibus-package/">bundled</a> 36 of Coburn’s “holds” on bills ranging from the “Captive Primate Safety Act” to the “Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Act” into one package called the “Advancing America’s Priorities Act.”</p>

<p>During one demagogic tirade, Reid declared, “You go home and tell people in a wheelchair you voted against moving forward on something that could get them out of their wheelchair.”</p>

<p>In Reid’s view, wanting basic research to be fiscally sustainable and financed by cuts to lower-priority items meant you were pro-paralysis. Today, it’s DOGE’s turn to endure the ire and moral condescension of scorned spenders. If DOGE’s critics in Congress hated government waste half as much as they hate Musk our debt and deficits would have been erased long ago.</p>

<p>To his credit, Musk often said DOGE would make mistakes but would try to correct them as quickly as possible. His admission of fallibility was refreshing and rare in politics and could have been taken as an invitation for collaboration. Sadly, partisan tribalism blinded Musk’s critics from seeing openings to find common ground.</p>

<p><strong>DOGE’s second act can succeed by focusing on two key priorities that build on lessons learned in a rapid-fire first hundred days.</strong></p>

<p><em><strong>First, enact real-time transparency by creating “America’s Checkbook.”</strong></em> The most important achievement of DOGE’s first act was arguably gaining access to the Treasury Payment system, which is the administrative state’s Holy of Holies. Opening the payment temple to all taxpayers and letting them see federal expenditures in real-time would lock in a permanent and revolutionary win. Doing so would also remove much of the uncertainty on which DOGE’s critics rely – and stoke. And why not? Ordinary Americans have the same right to see America’s bank account as they do their own. After all, it’s their money.</p>

<p>Our founders understood that transparency was a powerful, relentless, and subversive force for freedom. Transparency cuts through government like water cuts through stone. When its steady flow finds cracks, it can wash away mighty walls of opposition. That’s why they wrote transparency into Article I of the Constitution. Their language demanding a “regular accounting” of expenditures precedes the Bill of Rights, the First Amendment and freedom of speech. They understood that in the public square transparency is like oxygen. We can’t speak if we can’t breathe.</p>

<p>If Madison and our framers had access to today’s technology, they would demand real-time transparency. Fortunately, the framework for real-time transparency already exists. In 2006, Coburn teamed up with an ambitious young Senator from Illinois named Barack Obama to put all federal spending online for the first time. Our dream was to create an ecosystem of organizations and citizen activists who would crowdsource oversight and put permanent downward pressure on spending.</p>

<p>The Coburn-Obama bill created USASpending.gov, a platform to search past federal spending. It helped enable organizations like Open the Books, which I run, to exist along with thousands of other individual accounts on platforms like X. DOGE should urgently close the gap, and lag time, between what they can see on the Treasury Payment System and what is visible to everyone else on USASpending.gov. Leaving this gap open asks taxpayers to take DOGE’s word for it. “Trust us, we’re with the government” isn’t a winning strategy whether you’re wearing a blue jersey or red jersey. In DOGE’s defense, the lack of clarity in accounting isn’t easy to correct if it’s at the source of spending. Taxpayers and Congress need much greater clarity and insight into the nature of the problem that only transparency can correct.</p>

<p><strong>DOGE’s second act also should feature much closer collaboration with legislators who have the authority to enact smart and durable cuts</strong>. We already have a permanent standing deficit reduction commission. It’s called Congress. What DOGE can do is deliver its findings to Congress, and the American people, with the same level of clarity, transparency and rigor as a prosecutor would make a case in court. Then, members of Congress will have the support they need to achieve durable savings with the force of law. Cancelling contracts and Executive Orders are reversible actions. Congress has the power to make DOGE’s actions and recommendations much harder to reverse.</p>

<p>DOGE has a window of opportunity to work with allies in Congress who are willing to do the work necessary to achieve savings. I recently testified before the House DOGE Subcommittee during their hearing on the <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/04/08/us-news/feds-forked-over-4-6b-for-new-furniture-since-2020-despite-just-half-of-employees-showing-up-for-work-watchdog/">federal real estate portfolio</a>. My testimony focused on a “broken windows” argument that spending less lavishly to decorate and redecorate the administrative state’s mostly vacant buildings can usher in greater savings. When DOGE, Congress and outside groups focus on commonsense savings targets the wisdom of crowds – democracy – can prevail over the bureaucracy.</p>

<p>Real spending cuts are achievable in Washington. Between 2011-2013, Coburn and Tea Party-era members helped achieve the first two-year spending reductions since the end of the Korean War and saved taxpayers <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887323477604579000933006361834">$150 billion</a>; we enacted a ban on earmarks that saved about <a href="https://www.openthebooks.com/lessons-from-the-earmark-moratorium-for-the-doge-era--open-the-books-investigation/">$140 billion</a>; and we leveraged debt limit negotiations to force the Government Accountability Office to publish an annual report on duplicative programs. GAO claims those have resulted in <a href="https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-24-106915.pdf">$667 billion</a> in savings. That comes to $957 billion saved. Had we had someone of Musk’s stature in our corner we could have accomplished so much more.</p>

<p>As Musk transitions away from a day-to-day role, he can still invest the currency of his celebrity in serious reform efforts and challenge the country to dream big. Rather than scaling back the scope of what DOGE can accomplish and settling for $160 billion in savings, he should go back to the much more ambitious target of more than $2 trillion in savings.</p>

<p><strong>This is a realistic and necessary target.</strong> President Reagan’s <a href="https://famguardian.org/Subjects/Taxes/Research/GraceCommissionReports.pdf#page=4">Grace Commission</a> found that one in three tax dollars is wasted. In today’s budget numbers, one-third of $6.75 trillion (last year’s spending total) is $2.25 trillion. DOGE is right to investigate fraud, and their work on that front can lead to enormous savings, but hitting this larger $2 trillion target will require Congress and the administration to reimagine how mandatory programs like Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security can better serve lower and middle-income Americans. Musk can challenge the bipartisan surrender caucus that would rather see these 90 and 60-year-old programs collapse than be renovated. When members pledge to “not touch” entitlements they are protecting themselves, not seniors or poor people. Not touching these programs guarantees their demise, American decline and weakness, and unimaginable economic suffering.</p>

<p>Today’s political conditions are much more favorable for fiscal reform than during the Reagan years and Tea Party era when we still made gains. In the past, demagogic attacks about hurting poor people and “keeping people in wheelchairs,” as Reid claimed, had more potency. With today’s political realignment, the GOP is now the working-class party.</p>

<p><strong>Now is the time to be bold. </strong>This is a 1989 moment for America – a chance to tear down the bureaucratic wall that has separated We the People from their government for 100 years.</p>

<p>DOGE may be the most unifying Trump administration initiative. People <em>hope </em>Trump’s tariff gambit works, but they <em>know</em> DOGE, which is a movement more than a rebranded department, can deliver lasting change. Politicians define themselves by the hills they die on and DOGE is the <a href="https://harvardharrispoll.com/press-release-february-2025/">high ground</a>.</p>

<p><strong>DOGE is popular because it’s rooted not just in common sense but American constitutional first principles. </strong>As Thomas Jefferson said, “The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground.”</p>

<p>As the president said, eyes have been opened. Now it’s time to look, learn and act.</p>

<p><strong>Every dollar saved in Washington is a dream realized somewhere in America. </strong>DOGE’s second act can be a time to dream new dreams and deliver real growth and opportunity.</p>
</div>
      <span rel="schema:author" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" xml:lang="" data-sanitized-class="username">Tyler Durden</a></span>
<span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-05-13T21:00:00+00:00" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden">Tue, 05/13/2025 - 17:00</span>


guid: 114046244
title: Gatineau ouvre les portes de l'un de ses ateliers municipaux le 25 mai prochain
content: Gatineau ouvre les portes de l'un de ses ateliers municipaux le 25 mai prochain
hash: s#�4C�����솱�
link:
https://www.gatineau.ca/portail/default.aspx?p=nouvelles_annonces/communiques/communique&amp;id=1747143754

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title: Lutte au phénomène du sextage chez les jeunes : SEXTO est implanté à Gatineau
content: Lutte au phénomène du sextage chez les jeunes : SEXTO est implanté à Gatineau
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guid: -640296611
title: Gatineau adopte la première phase de son inventaire du patrimoine bâti traditionnel
content: Gatineau adopte la première phase de son inventaire du patrimoine bâti traditionnel
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guid: 1405432531
title: Mêlée de presse du 13 mai 2025 - Caucus préparatoire
content: Mêlée de presse du 13 mai 2025 - Caucus préparatoire
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guid: 1030034 at https://www.zerohedge.com
title: Taiwan's Legislature Passes Bill Easing Restrictions On Nuclear Power
author: ;Tyler Durden
link: https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/taiwans-legislature-passes-bill-easing-restrictions-nuclear-power
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<span property="schema:name" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Taiwan's Legislature Passes Bill Easing Restrictions On Nuclear Power</span>

            <div property="schema:text" data-sanitized-class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>It looks like nuclear power is once again becoming popular not just in the U.S., but globally.</p>

<p>This morning it was reported that Taiwan’s legislature passed a bill Tuesday easing restrictions on nuclear power, signaling a policy shift driven by rising energy needs and growing geopolitical tensions, according to <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-05-13/taiwan-opens-door-to-atomic-power-plant-restarts-in-policy-tweak">Bloomberg</a>.</p>

<p data-end="384" data-start="174">The amended law allows nuclear plants—previously capped at 40 years of operation—to renew licenses for up to 20 years at a time, either before or after expiration, according to Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu.</p>

<p data-end="627" data-start="386">Energy security has become critical for Taiwan as it struggles to reduce reliance on nuclear power while meeting the soaring demands of its chip industry and managing dependence on imported fossil fuels amid escalating pressure from Beijing.</p>

<p data-end="627" data-start="386"><a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/nuk.jpg?itok=D8HZf7tn" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/nuk.jpg?itok=D8HZf7tn"><picture><img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="b7e93b2c-72f3-400a-955f-923f7e55f283" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="339" width="500" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/nuk.jpg?itok=D8HZf7tn" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" data-sanitized-class="inline-images image-style-inline-images"></picture></a></p>

<p>Bloomberg <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-05-13/taiwan-opens-door-to-atomic-power-plant-restarts-in-policy-tweak">writes</a> that just days before Taiwan’s last reactor is set to shut down on May 17, lawmakers passed a bill signaling a potential return to nuclear power. While the closure will proceed, the move reflects a global shift back to nuclear energy as a low-carbon solution to rising demand.</p>

<p>Premier Cho Jung-tai said his cabinet wouldn’t oppose restarting decommissioned reactors if the law passes, but safety reviews—estimated at 3.5 years by state-owned Taipower—would delay any restarts.</p>

<p>Reviving nuclear power could reduce Taiwan’s dependence on imported liquefied natural gas, which is vulnerable to disruption amid rising tensions with Beijing, and help meet a projected 13% increase in power demand by 2030, driven by AI growth.</p>

<p>As we have continued to report, accelerating power demand growth from AI data centers has sparked a nuclear power revival in the US. </p>

<p>For those who missed it, in our note <a href="https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/next-ai-trade"><em>"The Next AI Trade</em></a>" from April 2024, more than one year ago, we outlined various investment opportunities for <em>powering up America, </em>most of which have dramatically outperformed the market since then.</p>
</div>
      <span rel="schema:author" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" xml:lang="" data-sanitized-class="username">Tyler Durden</a></span>
<span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-05-13T21:20:00+00:00" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden">Tue, 05/13/2025 - 17:20</span>


guid: yt:video:zCwwDC8KjeE
title: Scott Horton : Can Trump Bring Peace to Ukraine?
author: ;Judge Napolitano - Judging Freedom
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guid: yt:video:gPbS0Z2VJRQ
title: Prof. Glenn Diesen : Is Europe Preparing for War?
author: ;Judge Napolitano - Judging Freedom
link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPbS0Z2VJRQ
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guid: yt:video:WnPnaMC6Cs0
title: Phil Giraldi : Is Trump Tired of Netanyahu?
author: ;Judge Napolitano - Judging Freedom
link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnPnaMC6Cs0
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guid: https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/2164886/feux-foret-evacuation-manitoba
title: Nouveaux ordres d’évacuation en raison d’incendies dans l’est du Manitoba
content: <p>Le feu incontrôlé s’étend le long de la frontière du parc provincial de Nopiming.</p>
link: https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/2164886/feux-foret-evacuation-manitoba
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guid: 1030154 at https://www.zerohedge.com
title: The Manipulators' Playbook
author: ;Tyler Durden
link: https://www.zerohedge.com/covid-19/manipulators-playbook
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<span property="schema:name" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">The Manipulators' Playbook</span>

            <div property="schema:text" data-sanitized-class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p><a href="https://brownstone.org/articles/the-manipulators-playbook/"><em>Authored by Gigi Foster via The Brownstone Institute,</em></a></p>

<p><em>[Here is the text of my TedX talk in Australia, October 2024, which the sponsor refused to post]</em></p>

<p><a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/Shutterstock_740291722-800x469.jpg?itok=Lq3hOnsc" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/Shutterstock_740291722-800x469.jpg?itok=Lq3hOnsc"><picture><img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="9a26f839-a153-4392-ac13-39b3038b0051" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="293" width="500" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/Shutterstock_740291722-800x469.jpg?itok=Lq3hOnsc" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" data-sanitized-class="inline-images image-style-inline-images"></picture></a></p>

<p>Every four years, when I was growing up in the US, my mother and father would go to the polling booths and cancel each other out. They’d come home and say as much, with a smirk. Then they’d clink their glasses and have “cocktail hour” together, and enjoy the end of another day of married life in each other’s arms.</p>

<p>Mom was a lifelong Democrat and Dad a lifelong Republican. Back then, people firmly positioned on opposing sides of politics could talk to one another – and even, apparently, marry each other and produce kids! Do you think that is common today? The “cancellation” my parents joked about 30 years ago has, today, become no laughing matter.</p>

<p>Diversity is one of humanity’s greatest gifts. Despite outward appearances, the person right next to us typically does NOT share exactly the same beliefs, perspectives, or assumptions that we hold. Look at that person now, being aware of this reality. Shock horror! You are not sitting next to a mental clone of yourself! Well, thank god for that, some of you may be saying. How boring would the world be if no one we met could teach us anything new?</p>

<p>I have grown all my life, as have you, by being exposed to new and different ideas, methods, and mindsets. At a societal level, all growth in quality of life ultimately comes from innovation. Innovation in turn can be seen as the manifested potential of diversity: the discovery of an idea or an approach that’s different from what is circulating in the mainstream. This is one of the crowning lessons of my home discipline of economics.</p>

<p>Yet individual and societal access to the potent and progressive power of diversity of thought was acutely damaged during the Covid era. </p>

<p><strong>This damage was done by the mainstreaming – by politicians, bureaucracies, large companies, the media, whole professions, academic disciplines, and even families – of a single accepted view on many Covid topics.</strong> On the subjects of lockdowns, masks, and vaccines, it was made very clear by those in authority that one way was correct, and alternatives were wrong. Not only were other views wrong, but anyone who challenged the mainstream view on lockdowns, masking, or especially mass Covid vaccination was labelled as a danger to public health, a tinfoil-hat wearing conspiracy theorist wedded to wacko, fringe ideas. Probably a prepper. Or a cooker. Maybe a “religious nut-job.” Almost surely a “far-right” adherent, and probably racist to boot.</p>

<p><strong>In short, there was denigration, gaslighting, and suppression of dissenting (that is, diverse) voices on those topics, with this suppression of a core societal strength done in the name of preserving the health and strength of society.</strong></p>

<p>That sounds ironic, but actually it’s a well-worn playbook from history.</p>

<p><strong>This is the same trick that has been pulled in other historical tragedies, from the Cultural Revolution to the rise of the Third Reich. </strong></p>

<p>In the case of the Cultural Revolution, Chinese citizens were urged by those in authority to “smash the four olds” – referring to old habits, old customs, old culture, and old ideas – and instead to “cultivate the four new,” which allegedly would rejuvenate the great nation of China by accelerating the “proletariat revolution” after the tragic failure of the Great Leap Forward that left tens of millions dead or starving. The Great Leap itself was the ideological progeny of the Chinese authorities, rather than a grassroots movement – and naturally those authorities never directly admitted its failure. </p>

<p>During the Cultural Revolution, Chinese citizens – weakened by the tragedy of the Great Leap – dutifully sacrificed what they and their ancestors had previously been taught for centuries to revere. Ancient temples were destroyed, shopkeepers and others associated with “old ideas” like capitalism were denigrated and abused, and even elderly people were assaulted and killed, just for being old. </p>

<p>Such actions ran strongly against traditional Chinese values, so performing such actions and aiding and abetting those who performed them was a significant sacrifice in terms of morality, and even personal identity, for many Chinese people. Individuals who did not conform with the mainstream line were socially excluded or punished in other ways. Of course, the result of the Cultural Revolution was not a successful, nationally rejuvenating revolution, but even more death and destruction.  </p>

<p>In the case of the rise of the Third Reich, those in authority preyed upon the economic and moral suffering of the German people after the Great War. As National Socialism rose to prominence in Germany, Jewish people, those with sympathies for communism, and others were demonised as “enemies of the state.” </p>

<p>The sacrifice eventually asked of the suffering German citizens, allegedly in order to strengthen the “fatherland” that they loved, was essentially to dehumanise other human beings. The Biblical phrase “He who is not with us is against us” was used to implicitly encourage the quashing of dissident views and those who held them. </p>

<p><strong>This nudge to see dissenters as dangerous was coupled with heavy censorship,</strong> such as book-burning and criminalising the act of listening to foreign radio stations, and the creation and promotion of state propaganda that mainstreamed the accepted viewpoint, including through films like <a href="https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7wp10u"><em>Triumph of the Will</em></a>. Of course, the result of the Nazis’ reign was not a strengthening of Germany but rather total defeat, moral bankruptcy, and international humiliation.</p>

<p>In both of these tragic historical cases and in the more recent tragic case of Covid policy, the pattern is this: People in authority assert that the many sacrifices they are proposing are necessary to preserve and enhance the nation, simultaneously quashing any alternative views. Those who object are denigrated and despised as not caring about the nation, or about whoever or whatever is supposedly receiving the benefits of the sacrifice. </p>

<p><strong>Think about how this pattern played out in the Covid era.</strong> </p>

<p>Do you remember calling anyone a ‘granny killer’ in the Covid era – or being called one yourself? I do. From March 2020 onwards, I advocated against lockdowns, seeing how costly they were to health and wealth, and seeing no scientific evidence of their medical efficacy. </p>

<p>But for years, I was insulted and denigrated in mainstream circles by those following the standard Covid policy lines. I was called a granny-killer and a “neoliberal Trumpkinaut death cult warrior.” I received death threats and, worse, <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8570149/Hilarious-memes-sweep-internet-mocking-Bunnings-Karens.html">people made memes about me</a>. (I don’t really know what this one means, but the Harry Potter fans in the audience might.) </p>

<p>I was defamed on Twitter even though I’ve never had a Twitter account. I was smeared as being anti-health and anti-“saving lives,” and these smears were used in attempts to get me to shut up about the costs of the lockdown policy that was being promoted in the mainstream as the ONLY way to preserve health and save lives. </p>

<p><strong>Well, I didn’t shut up, and four years on after the start of the madness, hundreds of books, academic papers, and tragic personal stories now confirm I was right: the Covid lockdowns didn’t save lives, but were instead a massive human sacrifice induced by fear, politics, and money.</strong> The lockdowns did not lead to victory over Covid, but rather to a weakened nation with more debt, less societal strength and cohesion, and less health than before Covid. I’ve written here in detail about the massive damage inflicted on Australia, and particularly Australian youth, by Covid lockdowns. </p>

<p>The well-worn playbook is as follows: when populations are weakened, such as by severe economic distress or a great fear of some external threat, the people in charge advocate for policies that happen to be good for them politically and turn out also to be destructive to society (something often admitted in history books only much later), while wrapping their policies at the time in the “red threads” of altruism, pro-sociality, strengthening the nation, or preserving health, as a sales pitch to the weakened population. The implicit message is “If you really love something, you should be willing to sacrifice for it, and this is the sacrifice that is now required.” </p>

<p><strong>Why does this work? For two reasons: fear and love.</strong></p>

<blockquote>
<p><em>First, it works because fear makes us forget about everything except the feared object, weakening our ability to reason and think for ourselves, making us easy targets.</em></p>

<p><em>Second, it works because our love for things outside ourselves – including our country, our parents, our children, and our gods – is a powerful motivator of our thoughts and our actions, and so we are vulnerable to being manipulated by it.</em></p>
</blockquote>

<p>Understanding love is crucial in explaining human behaviour, which is why I co-wrote a book about it over a decade ago. Love is the most important thing in the world: it is the building block of societies, and the ultimate source of joy and meaning. If we are not careful, we can be manipulated by our loves when we are fooled into believing that some sacrifice is needed in order to preserve the welfare of something we love. If we can be convinced of that, then we will often willingly make the sacrifice.</p>

<p>People’s fear, combined with their pro-social connection to one another and to their society, was used during the Covid era as it has been at so many other points in history to manipulate them into supporting policies that actually, in the long run, harmed that society. When told that we had to lock down, mask up, pull our children out of schools, and mass-vaccinate against Covid, many Australians willingly went along with these enormous sacrifices, because of their fear and their love. </p>

<p>That is a testament not only to the power of fear, but to how much we love each other. Yet tragically, our loves – including our children, our parents, and the nation of Australia – were greatly harmed by these policies. If you’re interested in exploring this topic further, I have co-authored this book with Paul Frijters and Michael Baker, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09FT8KXBW?ref_=cm_sw_r_kb_dp_VPQVGBEFQXZ7C64GA2R2&amp;tag=kpembed-20&amp;linkCode=kpe"><em>The Great Covid Panic: What happened, why, and what to do next</em></a><em>,</em> published in 2021.</p>

<p><strong>My loving advice to you today – the one thing I want you to take away from my talk – is to be alert to those in authority who would manipulate you by exploiting your loves.</strong> This manipulation usually starts with an implicit request that you sacrifice some moral principle, some right, or some assumption that you previously took for granted as patently obvious, with that sacrifice supposedly going to benefit something that is universally loved. </p>

<p>That universally-loved beneficiary might be planet Earth – in the case of green energy subsidies, the “net-zero transition,” and the sacrifice of ignoring the fact that cheap, dense fuels are critical to human thriving and a key ingredient in lifting people out of poverty. It might be people’s desire to find the truth – in the case of internet censorship and denigrating some views as “misinformation” or “disinformation,” thereby ironically sacrificing the right to decide for yourself what is true. It might even be women as a group – in the case of the #metoo movement and the sacrifice of denigrating half the human race as dangerous sex predators whose “toxic masculinity” threatens women.</p>

<p>In all such cases, ask yourself: Is the proposed sacrifice truly going to help the alleged and universally loved recipient? Would people in power directly benefit in some way from this sacrifice, politically or monetarily? Am I being manipulated by my loves into being just another nodding head, helping those in positions of authority to weaken my society?</p>

<p><strong>The most powerful antidote to this clear and present danger is the seeking out, preservation, and uplifting of diversity of thought. Allowing dissent holds the power to reveal false promises for what they are.</strong></p>

<p>How can you personally promote diversity of thought, and nurture an environment in which open dissent is possible?</p>

<p>You can promote and celebrate forums where people are allowed and encouraged to think, discuss, critically analyse, and ponder aloud together, respectfully, confidently, and joyfully, becoming closer to one another as they do, sharing their common humanity without the crutch of also sharing beliefs and perspectives.</p>

<p>You can support alternative schools of thought, like this one called <a href="https://liberamentis.org/">Academia Libera Mentis</a> that has just started up in Belgium. </p>

<p>You can be part of Big Dialogues about contemporary social, economic, and political issues, dialogues that help us rebuild a society capable of discussing meaningful ideas with one another, across aisles of perspective, belief, experience, and mindset. </p>

<p>You can join a grassroots movement focused on restoring the respect that used to be embedded in Western culture for individual freedom – including expressive and academic freedom – and the scientific method, using which people have horse-raced competing ideas since the Enlightenment.</p>

<p>Initiatives like these help restore our societies by honouring our deep and powerful diversity. They help to fend off and thwart the constant manipulation attempts of elites hungry for power, while building respect and nurturing progress for all. They help us build robust red threads – bonds of love for one another based not on conformity with “right-think,” but on the joy of discovering who others truly are, and expanding ourselves by contemplating and revelling in their differentness.</p>

<p><strong>What will always win in the end is love, joy, confidence, tolerance, and an unshakeable belief in the infinite potential of every unique individual in the human species. But these precious things will only win in our lifetimes if we live and breathe that love, joy, confidence, tolerance, and belief, while purposefully rejecting the attempts of the powerful to manipulate and divide us by destroying our diversity. This is what eternal vigilance looks like.</strong></p>

<p><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://rumble.com/embed/v6r3vk7/?pub=4" width="640" data-sanitized-class="rumble" allow="accelerometer; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin"></iframe></p>
</div>
      <span rel="schema:author" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" xml:lang="" data-sanitized-class="username">Tyler Durden</a></span>
<span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-05-13T21:40:00+00:00" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden">Tue, 05/13/2025 - 17:40</span>


guid: https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/2164920/cabinet-carney-economie-securite-ministres-nouveaux
title: Cabinet Carney : entre expérience et nouvelles voix, cap sur l’économie et la sécurité
content: <p>Le nouveau gouvernement, composé de 28 ministres, respecte la parité hommes-femmes.</p>
link: https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/2164920/cabinet-carney-economie-securite-ministres-nouveaux
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guid: https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/2164952/mark-carney-vatican-messe-pape-leon
title: Mark Carney au Vatican pour la messe inaugurale de Léon XIV
content: <p>Le premier ministre sera à Rome du 16 au 19 mai. </p>
link: https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/2164952/mark-carney-vatican-messe-pape-leon
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guid: 1029789 at https://www.zerohedge.com
title: The Deep State Goes Viral
author: ;Tyler Durden
link: https://www.zerohedge.com/covid-19/deep-state-goes-viral
hash: c�{F��lU�)��ǻ�
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<span property="schema:name" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">The Deep State Goes Viral</span>

            <div property="schema:text" data-sanitized-class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p><a href="https://brownstone.org/articles/the-deep-state-goes-viral-foreword/"><em>Via The Brownstone Institute,</em></a></p>

<p><em>The following is Jeffrey Tucker’s Foreword introduction to Debbie Lerman’s new book, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/1630692999">The Deep State Goes Viral: Pandemic Planning and the Covid Coup.</a></em></p>

<p>It was about a month into lockdowns, April 2020, and my phone rang with an unusual number. I picked up and the caller identified himself as Rajeev Venkayya, a name I knew from my writings on the 2005 pandemic scare. Now the head of a vaccine company, he once served as Special Assistant to the President for Biodefense, and claimed to be the inventor of pandemic planning. </p>

<p><a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/deep-state-800x469.jpg?itok=TTW0zrtP" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/deep-state-800x469.jpg?itok=TTW0zrtP"><picture><img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="1ed69d19-ecba-45ff-b9ce-56e70d5ad49f" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="293" width="500" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/deep-state-800x469.jpg?itok=TTW0zrtP" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" data-sanitized-class="inline-images image-style-inline-images"></picture></a></p>

<p>Venkayya was a primary author of “A National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza” as issued by the George W. Bush administration in 2005. </p>

<p>It was the first document that mapped out a nascent version of lockdowns, designed for global deployment.<em><strong> </strong></em></p>

<blockquote>
<p><em><strong>“A flu pandemic would have global consequences,” </strong>said Bush, <strong>“so no nation can afford to ignore this threat, and every nation has responsibilities to detect and stop its spread.”</strong></em></p>
</blockquote>

<p>It was always a strange document because it stood in constant contradiction to public health orthodoxies dating back decades and even a century. </p>

<p><strong>With it, there were two alternative paths in place in the event of a new virus</strong>: the normal path that everyone is taught in medical school (therapeutics for the sick, caution with social disturbances, calm and reason, quarantines only in extreme cases) and a biosecurity path that invoked totalitarian measures. </p>

<p><strong>Those two paths existed side-by-side for a decade and a half before the lockdowns. </strong></p>

<p>Now I found myself speaking with the guy who claims credit for having mapped out the biosecurity approach, which contradicted all public health wisdom and experience. His plan was finally being implemented. Not too many voices dissented, partially due to fear but also due to censorship, which was already very tight. He told me to stop objecting to the lockdowns because they have everything under control. </p>

<p>I asked a basic question. Let’s say we all hunker down, hide under the sofa, eschew physical meetings with family and friends, stop all gatherings of all kinds, and keep businesses and schools closed. What, I asked, happens to the virus itself? Does it jump in a hole in the ground or head to Mars for fear of another press conference by Andrew Cuomo or Anthony Fauci? </p>

<p>After some fallacy-filled banter about the R-naught, I could tell he was getting exasperated with me, and finally, with some hesitation, he told me the plan. There would be a vaccine. I balked and said that no vaccine can sterilize against a fast-mutating respiratory pathogen with a zoonotic reservoir. Even if such a thing did appear, it would take 10 years of trials and testing before it was safe to release to the general population. Are we going to stay locked down for a decade?</p>

<p><em><strong>“It will come much faster,”</strong></em> he said.<em><strong> “You watch. You will be surprised.”</strong></em></p>

<p>Hanging up, I recall dismissing him as a crank, a has-been with nothing better to do than call up poor writers and bug them. </p>

<p><strong>I had entirely misread the meaning, simply because I was not prepared to understand the sheer depth and vastness of the operation now in play. </strong>All that was taking place struck me as obviously destructive and fundamentally flawed but rooted in a kind of intellectual error: a loss of understanding of virology basics. </p>

<p>Around the same time, the<em> New York Times</em> posted without fanfare a new document called <em>PanCAP-A: Pandemic Crisis Action Plan – Adapted</em>. It was Venkayya’s plan, only intensified, as released on March 13, 2020, three days before President Trump’s press conference announcing the lockdowns. I read through it, reposted it, but had no idea what it meant. I hoped someone could come along to explain it, interpret it, and tease out its implications, all in the interest of getting to the bottom of the who, what, and why of this fundamental attack on civilization itself. </p>

<p>That person did come along. She is Debbie Lerman, intrepid author of this wonderful book that so beautifully presents the best thoughts on all the questions that had eluded me. She took the document apart and discovered a fundamental truth therein. The rule-making authority for the pandemic response was not vested in public-health agencies but the National Security Council.</p>

<p>This was stated as plain as day in the document; I had somehow missed that. This was not public health. It was national security. The antidote under development with the label vaccine was really a military countermeasure. In other words, this was Venkayya’s plan times ten, and the idea was precisely to override all tradition and public health concerns and replace them with national security measures. </p>

<p>Realizing this fundamentally changes the structure of the story of the last five years. <strong>This is not a story of a world that mysteriously forgot about natural immunity and made some intellectual error </strong>in thinking that governments could shut down economies and turn them back on again, scaring a pathogen back to where it came from. <strong>What we experienced in a very real sense was quasi-martial law, a deep-state coup</strong> not only on a national but on an international level. </p>

<p><strong>These are terrifying thoughts and hardly anyone is prepared to discuss them,</strong> which is why Lerman’s book is so crucial. In terms of public debate about what happened to us, we are barely at the beginning. There is now a willingness to admit that the lockdowns did more overall harm than good. Even the legacy media has started venturing out to grant permission for such thoughts. But the role of the pharmaceuticals in driving the policy and the role of the national-security state in backing this grand industrial project is still taboo. </p>

<p>In 21st-century journalism and advocacy designed to influence the public mind, the overwhelming concern of all writers and institutions is professional survival. That means fitting into an approved ethos or paradigm regardless of the facts. This is why Lerman’s thesis is not debated; it is hardly spoken of at all in polite society. That said, my work at Brownstone Institute has put me in close contact with many thinkers in high places. This much I can say: what Lerman has written in this book is not disputed but admitted in private. </p>

<p>Strange isn’t it?<strong> We saw during the Covid years how professional aspiration incentivized silence even in the face of egregious violations of human rights, including mandatory school closures that robbed children of education, followed by face-covering requirements and forced injections for the whole population.</strong> The near-silence was deafening even if anyone with a brain and a conscience knew that all of this was wrong. Not even the excuse that “We didn’t know” works anymore because we did know. </p>

<p>This same dynamic of social and cultural control is fully in operation now that we are through that stage and onto another one, which is precisely why Lerman’s findings have not yet made their way to polite society, to say nothing of mainstream media. Will we get there? Maybe. This book can help; at least it is now available for everyone brave enough to confront the facts. <strong>You will find herein the most well-documented and coherent presentation of answers to the core questions (what, how, why) that all of us have been asking since this hell was first visited upon us. </strong></p>
</div>
      <span rel="schema:author" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" xml:lang="" data-sanitized-class="username">Tyler Durden</a></span>
<span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-05-13T22:25:00+00:00" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden">Tue, 05/13/2025 - 18:25</span>


guid: https://brixsweden.org/?p=5418
title: Preliminary Assessment: Why The U.S.-Saudi Deal Cannot and Will not Displace China?
author: ;brixsweden
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<div><img src="https://brixsweden.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Saudi-US-China-1024x683.png" data-sanitized-class="ff-og-image-inserted"></div><p>By: Hussein Askary, Vice-Chairman of the Belt and Road Institute in Sweden</p>
<p>Much concern on the one hand and glee on the other have been expressed that President Donald Trump’s much hyped deal with Saudi Arabia announced today in the Saudi capital Riyadh will derail China-Saudi and China-Arab cooperation, especially the Belt and Road Initiative. Much of these concerns are unwarranted. Even if that is hypothetically the intention of the Trump Administration, practically, it is not possible. To make a more realistic analysis, we have to split our brain into two halves: One with a zero-sum, geopolitically and ideologically structured half which says, that if the Saudis make such big deals with the U.S., what is left for China? This is a nonsensical way of thinking for many reasons:</p>
<ol><li>The deals are first trade deals for Saudi Arabia to buy American weapons over a period of four years, which the Saudi would do and have done any way. Saudi Arabia has a historical military cooperation with the U.S. and Britain. So, what is new? China has no such arms deals and security arrangements with Saudi Arabia anyway. Second the much touted US$600 billion in investments are not only Saudi investments in the U.S. but bilateral trade too, also over a period of four years (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/saudi-economy-minister-says-600-bln-package-with-us-includes-investments-2025-01-24/"><span>Saudi $600 billion package with US includes investments, procurement, minister says</span>).</a> How much of that will materialize we don’t know.</li>
<li>The second more rational and less ideological half of our brain is a win-win minded one. Saudi Arabia and almost all the Arab countries have strategic cooperation agreements with China, based on jointly building the Belt and Road, industrialization, relocation of advanced industries into these countries. China can build ports, railways, airports, logistics centres and hubs, new manufacturing capabilities, green technologies, electric vehicles plants, greening the deserts, computer and telecommunications equipment plants, 5-g networks, and much more in these countries. You can read about these in my recent article <a href="https://brixsweden.org/how-the-belt-and-road-is-driving-the-global-souths-development/"><span>How the Belt and Road is driving the Global South’s development.</span></a> All these cooperation initiatives are happening and will continue because these countries need them, China can build them, and the U.S. cannot.</li>
<li>The U.S. cannot build this infrastructure and manufacturing in the U.S. itself. The fate of President Bidens Build Back Better is a shining example. Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf countries are divesting from the reliance on oil exports as the sole source of income into industrialization, to avoid the oil price shocks that brough them to the brink of bankruptcy three times in the last 10 year when the oil prices collapsed to near or below US$30/barrel in 2014, 16, and 2020. The U.S. and other Western powers are good at floating hot air balloons like Build Back Better World <a href="https://brixsweden.org/g-7-alternative-to-the-belt-and-road-all-that-glitters-is-not-gold/">(<span>G-7 Alternative to The Belt and Road: All That Glitters Is Not Gold</span>!)</a> which is already forgotten, the EU’s Global gateway Initiative, which is a mere PowerPoint presentation, and the India-Middle East-EU Corridor which was buried under the rubble of Gaza (<a href="https://brixsweden.org/why-the-india-middle-east-corridor-is-a-fraud-a-physical-economic-argument/"><span>Why the India-Middle East-Corridor is a Fraud: A Physical-Economic Argument</span>)</a>.</li>
<li>The relationship between the Arab countries has grown so rapidly and intensively in the past few years, that these countries might surpass the EU as trade and economic partners in the coming decade. Read about this matter in my article <a href="https://brixsweden.org/the-china-arab-forum-will-the-arab-world-surpass-the-eu-in-significance-for-china/"><span>The China-Arab Forum: Will the Arab World Surpass the EU in Significance for China?</span></a>.</li>
</ol><p>The United States cannot replace that.</p>
<ol start="5"><li>Besides, people have to stop regarding the Saudis and Arabs as minors who do not control their fate. Yes, they are historically too much reliant on the U.S. and Britain for their security, but the world has changed since the 1970s. The fact that the Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah Elsisi attended the Victory Day celebrations in Moscow, although Egypt has strong ties to Western powers, is evident of the independence the Arab countries are showing. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have also kept strong ties to Russia during the war in Ukraine.</li>
<li>China is a moderating major power for the region, while the U.S. is a polarising power. China’s mediation of the historic normalisation of relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran in 2023 is a major breakthrough for Chinese diplomacy. The U.S. has chosen sides in every conflict in the region and participated in many of them.</li>
</ol><p>As mentioned above, these are areas that do not touch China-Saudi and China-Arab cooperation. Trump wants Saudi and Arab money to flow into the U.S. What Saudi Arabia wants from the U.S. is security guarantees, a solution to the Palestinian issues, and a green light to launch civilian nuclear programmes. Whether this will be built by American companies is a bit doubtful, due to lack of capacity. President Trump is a fan of fossil fuels, not advanced nuclear and clean technology. Almost all of the oil and gas exported by Saudi Arabia and other gulf countries goes east, mainly to China, Japan, South Korea, India, etc. The U.S. does not need this oil and gas. It needs the revenues generated by these exports. So, the market in the East Asia will remain the main destination of Saudi and other Arab oil and gas. What China may worry about is if there is pressure on the Arab countries to divest from agreements on investments made with China and the BRI. But that would be suicidal for the Arab countries.</p>
<p><strong>Nothing new under the sun</strong></p>
<p>I consider this deal to be business as usual. It is accompanied by much hype. It is a personal media victory for Trump, but in terms of economics, it is not such a major breakthrough. What is discussed behind closed doors is something different, but I am not in a position to comment on that. As I said the value mentioned is mostly in trade over four years with arms sales topping the list. Saudi investments will be in the U.S. itself. The U.S. has very little else to offer Saudi Arabia in terms of economic value.</p>
<p>In terms of foreign policy success, Trump was hoping to revive his Abrahams accords between Israel and the Arab countries, which he launched in his first term. This time he wanted Saudi Arabia to join, but the genocidal war launched by the Israelis on Gaza and the Palestinians put the breaks on that. Trump’s relationship to Netanyahu has deteriorated recently, and he is not going to pose as Israel’s lawyer this time. At least not yet, and Trump expressed that in his remarks in Riyadh (<a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/trump-to-saudi-arabia-youll-join-abraham-accords-in-your-own-time/"><span>https://www.timesofisrael.com/trump-to-saudi-arabia-youll-join-abraham-accords-in-your-own-time/</span>)</a>. And trump does not seem to be ready to recognise a Palestinian state. So, he compensated for that non-breakthrough, with the trade and investment deal.</p>
<p>China’s accomplishments (detailed in referenced articles above) with Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and the other Arab countries is unparalleled and cannot be rolled back, unless these countries want to commit collective suicide. The countries in the Gulf want to balance relations between east and west to get out of harm’s way and develop their societies as modern, industrial states. There is no better partner to accomplish that than China.</p>
<p>At the end of the day, physical economic realities will have the final say, not some ideologically trumpeted wishes.</p>

link:
https://brixsweden.org/preliminary-assessment-the-u-s-saudi-deal-cannot-and-will-not-displace-china/

tags:
#Articles #BRIX #News #Abaraham Accords #Belt and Road Initiative #Hussein Askary #IMEC #Saudi-China relations #US-Saudi Deal


guid: https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/2164960/saaqclic-commission-gallant-guy-morneau
title: Enquête sur SAAQclic : « Quand bien même ça coûterait 100, 200 millions de plus… »
link: https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/2164960/saaqclic-commission-gallant-guy-morneau
hash: h*P%�E�q� ��
content:
<p>Devant la commission Gallant, l’ex-président du CA de la SAAQ Guy Morneau défend le travail des gestionnaires.</p>

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guid: 1030167 at https://www.zerohedge.com
title: Student Loan Delinquencies Surge, Hammer Credit Scores - Southern States Hit Hardest
author: ;Tyler Durden
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<span property="schema:name" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Student Loan Delinquencies Surge, Hammer Credit Scores - Southern States Hit Hardest</span>

            <div property="schema:text" data-sanitized-class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p><strong>The party is over for millions of Americans who paused payments on their federal student loans </strong>over the last several years through pandemic-era forbearance programs. Many had hoped for sweeping loan forgiveness under the Biden-Harris administration, But with the federal government officially resuming collections on defaulted loans this month—for the first time in over five years—borrowers now face sliding credit scores as delinquencies soar, while in April we <a href="https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/here-comes-next-economic-shock-student-loan-default-wave-63-billion-gdp-hit">warned</a> the restart could drain as much as $63 billion from the economy. </p>

<p>On Tuesday, the <em>Center for Microeconomic Data at the New York Fed released its <a href="https://www.newyorkfed.org/medialibrary/interactives/householdcredit/data/pdf/HHDC_2025Q1">Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit</a></em>, updated through the first quarter of 2025.</p>

<p>Within the report is a snapshot of consumer credit profiles, including the sharp rise in delinquent student loan debt that's now piling up.</p>

<p>Starting with a 10,000-foot view; in the first quarter of 2025<strong> the aggregate U.S. delinquency rate climbed to 4.3%</strong> of outstanding debt in some stage of delinquency -<strong> up from 3.6% in the fourth quarter of 2024</strong>. Total aggregate household debt increased by $167 billion in the quarter, up .9% from 4Q24, while overall, America's consumer debt balance now stands at a whopping $18.20 trillion - <strong>an increase of more than $4 trillion since 4Q19. </strong></p>

<p><a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/2025-05-13_12-50-35.png?itok=597Gq6rK" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/2025-05-13_12-50-35.png?itok=597Gq6rK"><picture><img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="fb1026b0-076f-4ae2-98b9-578fd61b6d61" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="362" width="500" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/2025-05-13_12-50-35.png?itok=597Gq6rK" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" data-sanitized-class="inline-images image-style-inline-images"></picture></a></p>

<p><strong>Narrowing it down, </strong>while early-stage delinquency rates remained stable across most debt categories, <strong>student loans bucked the trend, posting a sharp increase as the federal government resumed credit reporting on missed payments for the first time in nearly five years</strong>.</p>

<blockquote>
<p><em>"Transition into early delinquency held steady for nearly all debt types; the </em><strong><em>exception was for student loans</em></strong><em>, which saw a </em><strong><em>large uptick in the rate at which balances went from current to delinquent due to the resumption of reporting of delinquent student loans on credit reports after a nearly 5-year pause due to the pandemic</em></strong><em>," the quarterly report said. </em></p>
</blockquote>

<p>The shift comes amid the <strong>expiration of pandemic-era forbearance</strong>, exposing millions of <a href="https://www.zerohedge.com/personal-finance/crackdown-student-loan-defaulters-begin-benefit-seizure-then-wage-garnishment">borrowers to renewed repayment obligations</a>. </p>

<p>Last month, Education Secretary Linda McMahon <a href="https://www.zerohedge.com/political/were-going-start-getting-it-back-trump-admin-begins-collecting-student-loans-default">told</a> President Trump at a Cabinet meeting: </p>

<blockquote>
<p><em>"We're going to start getting it back," adding "For those people who have borrowed money and have not been paying -- that's just not to be punitive, there are many ways that they can go online to understand how they can get back into the right payment structure. Because when they're in default, they can't buy a house, they can't buy a car, their credit scores go down."</em></p>
</blockquote>

<p>Also reported last month (<a href="https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/here-comes-next-economic-shock-student-loan-default-wave-63-billion-gdp-hit">full note</a> available to premium subs), student-loan delinquencies have increased since the pandemic-era forbearance on repayment ended in September 2023. <strong>The Biden administration allowed a year for payments to fully ramp back up, which temporarily suppressed delinquency rates.</strong> Now, though, <strong>missed payments are crossing the 90-day threshold</strong> and showing up on borrowers' credit reports.</p>

<p>Transition rates into <strong>serious delinquency (90+ days past due)</strong> held steady for auto loans and credit cards, but rose for <strong>mortgages, HELOCs</strong>, and, notably, <strong>student loans</strong>, reflecting growing financial strain among consumers.</p>

<p><a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/2025-05-13_12-51-44.png?itok=uXGV1c9-" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/2025-05-13_12-51-44.png?itok=uXGV1c9-"><picture><img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="dd18a751-c731-427a-9872-b34af099e8db" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="375" width="500" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/2025-05-13_12-51-44.png?itok=uXGV1c9-" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" data-sanitized-class="inline-images image-style-inline-images"></picture></a></p>

<p>Bloomberg noted: </p>

<blockquote>
<p><strong><em>Transitioning into serious delinquency (90-plus days late) for student loans rose to tie a 10-year-old record for those age 50 and older</em></strong><em>. Among that cohort, 11.23%, or around one in nine households, is now seriously delinquent on their student loan debt. </em><strong><em>Americans age 50 and older held $418.5 billion in student loan debt</em></strong><em>, split among 9.2 million borrowers. The ratios of serious delinquency for younger age groups was lower but still rose sharply. The average age of a delinquent borrower ticked up to 40.4.</em></p>

<p><em>The Fed's data shows that the credit hit is substantial for newly delinquent student loan borrowers. Among the 7.5% who had a relatively high credit score of at least 720 before the delinquency, their scores dropped by 177 points on average. Overall, the Fed found that 2.2 million borrowers saw their credit scores drop by at least 100 points.</em></p>
</blockquote>

<p><a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/2025-05-13_12-56-31.png?itok=NF9IU-q4" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/2025-05-13_12-56-31.png?itok=NF9IU-q4"><picture><img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="2536cb52-0a7f-4b24-abc4-8f9845569d4a" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="376" width="500" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/2025-05-13_12-56-31.png?itok=NF9IU-q4" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" data-sanitized-class="inline-images image-style-inline-images"></picture></a></p>

<p>Data from Bloomberg shows the <strong>student debt bubble</strong> stood at a record high of $1.63 trillion. </p>

<p><a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/Snag_8c903f97.png?itok=bLk7Jv83" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/Snag_8c903f97.png?itok=bLk7Jv83"><picture><img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="ff4cc4b8-c855-46af-af86-ab6d82758166" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="267" width="500" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/Snag_8c903f97.png?itok=bLk7Jv83" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" data-sanitized-class="inline-images image-style-inline-images"></picture></a></p>

<p>New York Fed economists via <a href="https://libertystreeteconomics.newyorkfed.org/2025/05/student-loan-delinquencies-are-back-and-credit-scores-take-a-tumble/" target="_blank">Liberty Street Economics</a> published a note with more color about the student loan turmoil unfolding, indicating "<strong>more than twenty million federal borrowers were not in repayment and five million federal borrowers had a zero dollar monthly payment</strong>," adding, "Among borrowers who were required to make payments, <strong>nearly one in four student loan borrowers (23.7 percent) were behind on their student loans in the first quarter of 2025</strong>." </p>

<p><a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/2025-05-13_13-39-14.png?itok=t7GcM60q" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/2025-05-13_13-39-14.png?itok=t7GcM60q"><picture><img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="0c772f71-2786-457c-b36d-9ca7221421ac" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="578" width="500" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/2025-05-13_13-39-14.png?itok=t7GcM60q" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" data-sanitized-class="inline-images image-style-inline-images"></picture></a></p>

<p>The economists noted that seven states have a conditional borrower delinquency rate over 30%: Mississippi (44.6%), Alabama (34.1%), West Virginia (34.0%), Kentucky (33.6%), Oklahoma (33.6%), Arkansas (33.5%), and Louisiana (31.8%). <u><strong>These states are located in the heartland and are primarily Trump states</strong></u>. </p>

<p><a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/2025-05-13_13-34-44.png?itok=jff2vGIq" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/2025-05-13_13-34-44.png?itok=jff2vGIq"><picture><img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="2057e645-3066-485e-92b6-770701062c9c" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="434" width="500" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/2025-05-13_13-34-44.png?itok=jff2vGIq" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" data-sanitized-class="inline-images image-style-inline-images"></picture></a></p>

<p>The economists offered their take on the grave situation:</p>

<blockquote>
<p><em><strong>After a five-year hiatus, student loan delinquency has returned to the pre-pandemic "normal" with more than 10 percent of balances and roughly six million borrowers either past due or in default</strong>. The ramifications of student loan delinquency are severe.</em></p>

<p><em>The U.S. Department of Education, in concert with the U.S. Treasury, began collection efforts for defaulted loans in May, which includes the garnishment of wages, tax returns, and Social Security payments.</em></p>

<p><em>Additionally, millions of borrowers face steep declines in their credit standing which will increase borrowing costs or seriously limit their access to credit like mortgages and auto loans. It is unclear whether these penalties will spill over into payment difficulties in other credit products, but we will continue to monitor this space in the coming months.</em></p>
</blockquote>

<p>Millennials and GenX feeling the brunt of student debt woes. </p>

<p><a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/2025-05-13_13-39-48.png?itok=0ecGAfdu" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/2025-05-13_13-39-48.png?itok=0ecGAfdu"><picture><img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="0e24bf1f-7ba1-4dcc-9593-14330ff3c643" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="496" width="500" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/2025-05-13_13-39-48.png?itok=0ecGAfdu" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" data-sanitized-class="inline-images image-style-inline-images"></picture></a></p>

<p><a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/ageg34.JPG?itok=1UultY9l" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/ageg34.JPG?itok=1UultY9l"><picture><img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="13c325ec-8d4e-42b4-893d-30e1a9088ff5" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="464" width="500" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/ageg34.JPG?itok=1UultY9l" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" data-sanitized-class="inline-images image-style-inline-images"></picture></a></p>

<p>Credit score downgrades begin... </p>

<p><a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/2025-05-13_13-40-43.png?itok=8EzLPcr6" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/2025-05-13_13-40-43.png?itok=8EzLPcr6"><picture><img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="5b737c81-7159-4fa5-bf74-b1b637dbce94" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="413" width="500" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/2025-05-13_13-40-43.png?itok=8EzLPcr6" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" data-sanitized-class="inline-images image-style-inline-images"></picture></a></p>

<p>More:</p>

<p><a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/stud32.JPG?itok=P1CfXJl_" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/stud32.JPG?itok=P1CfXJl_"><picture><img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="1b3dfac2-0671-43fd-a16f-1f3ea8b2d31d" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="301" width="500" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/stud32.JPG?itok=P1CfXJl_" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" data-sanitized-class="inline-images image-style-inline-images"></picture></a></p>

<p>What's critical to understand is that delinquent student loan debt continues to pile up quickly, increasingly hitting borrowers' credit reports. This growing wave of defaults could trigger a <strong>domino effect on consumer spending, potentially dragging down GDP by as much as $63 billion</strong>—a risk we warned about in our note titled<em> <a href="https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/here-comes-next-economic-shock-student-loan-default-wave-63-billion-gdp-hit">The Next Economic Shock: Student Loan Default Wave = $63 Billion GDP Hit</a> ... </em></p>

<p><i>.   .   .</i></p>

<h2><i>View the full report here:</i></h2>

<p><iframe data-aspect-ratio="0.7729220222793488" data-auto-height="false" frameborder="0" height="600" scrolling="no" src="https://www.scribd.com/embeds/861222524/content?start_page=1&amp;view_mode=scroll&amp;access_key=key-qOYYkAjufaKtcQzmm7IH" title="Student Loan Delinquencies Are Back, and Credit Scores Take a Tumble " width="100%" data-sanitized-id="doc_54927" data-sanitized-class="scribd_iframe_embed" allow="accelerometer; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin"></iframe></p>
</div>
      <span rel="schema:author" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" xml:lang="" data-sanitized-class="username">Tyler Durden</a></span>
<span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-05-13T22:50:00+00:00" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden">Tue, 05/13/2025 - 18:50</span>

link:
https://www.zerohedge.com/personal-finance/student-loan-delinquencies-surge-hammer-credit-scores-southern-states-hit-hardest


guid: 1029824 at https://www.zerohedge.com
title: Turmeric Lowers Blood Pressure-How To Get the Most Out Of It
author: ;Tyler Durden
link: https://www.zerohedge.com/medical/turmeric-lowers-blood-pressure-how-get-most-out-it
hash: ��B�I�����"��
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
content:
<span property="schema:name" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Turmeric Lowers Blood Pressure-How To Get the Most Out Of It</span>

            <div property="schema:text" data-sanitized-class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p><em><a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/health/turmeric-lowers-blood-pressure-how-to-get-the-most-out-of-it-5842157?utm_source=partner&amp;utm_campaign=ZeroHedge&amp;src_src=partner&amp;src_cmp=ZeroHedge">Authored by Zena le Roux via The Epoch Times</a> (emphasis ours),</em></p>

<p>If you’ve cut salt, eased up on caffeine, and tried to stress less, and your blood pressure still won’t budge, <strong>perhaps a golden spice in your kitchen cabinet can ease your efforts.</strong></p>

<p><a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/image_92%2824%29_1.jpg?itok=bCXe6fsj" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/image_92%2824%29_1.jpg?itok=bCXe6fsj"><picture><img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="28acfd63-1f38-445f-858a-03d81928fba6" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="333" width="500" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/image_92%2824%29_1.jpg?itok=bCXe6fsj" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" data-sanitized-class="inline-images image-style-inline-images"></picture></a></p>

<p><strong>Curcumin is found in the root of the turmeric plant,</strong> giving it its distinctive golden hue and earthy flavor. It belongs to a group of plant-based substances called polyphenols, <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/physiology/articles/10.3389/fphys.2022.848867/full">known</a> for their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects.</p>

<p>These effects may help explain why curcumin—turmeric’s most active compound—is being studied for its potential to support healthy blood pressure.</p>

<h2>A Natural Ally for Blood Pressure Control</h2>

<p>The most convenient and widely available source of curcumin is turmeric powder, a pantry staple that adds color and flavor to a variety of dishes.</p>

<p>Curcumin may help <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39265778/">lower</a> blood pressure and improve blood vessel function by reducing the thickening and stiffness of arterial walls, a common issue in chronic hypertension.</p>

<p>Based mostly on animal studies, in some cases, <strong>curcumin has also reversed damage—such as thickening and scarring—to blood vessels, especially in pulmonary arterial hypertension, which causes blood vessels to narrow and blood pressure in the lungs to increase.</strong></p>

<p>Curcumin may also protect the kidneys and heart, which are key to keeping blood pressure in check.</p>

<p>In animal studies, curcumin has also been found to relax blood vessels by increasing nitric oxide levels, which helps improve blood flow and reduce resistance in the arteries.</p>

<h2>Get the Most Out of Turmeric</h2>

<p>Although curcumin offers many health benefits, its bioavailability is poor, meaning the body doesn’t easily absorb it.</p>

<p>“<strong>After being consumed, only a small amount is absorbed through the small intestine, and much of it is quickly broken down by the liver</strong>,” Chantelle van der Merwe, a registered dietitian, explained. Very little curcumin actually makes it into the bloodstream to have an effect, she added.</p>

<p>To overcome this challenge, researchers have explored ways to improve curcumin’s absorption and effectiveness. One method includes adding ingredients such as black pepper, which helps slow the breakdown and enhance the absorption and retention of curcumin, according to van der Merwe.</p>

<p>*  *  *</p>

<p><em>Grab some potent turmeric <a href="https://store.zerohedge.com/ultra-turmeric"><strong>here...</strong></a> <strong> </strong></em></p>
<a data-image-external-href="https://store.zerohedge.com/ultra-turmeric" data-image-href="https://store.zerohedge.com/ultra-turmeric" data-link-option="2" href="https://store.zerohedge.com/ultra-turmeric"><picture><figure role="group" data-sanitized-class="caption caption-img inline-images image-style-inline-images"><img alt="" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="04a289c1-757e-4ab4-a1c4-8ac26ab22cea" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="352" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/Ultra%20Turmeric.jpg?itok=cf1Ml5d-" typeof="foaf:Image" width="500"><figcaption><em>Anti-Inflammatory packed with antioxidants. Give it a shot, we take it daily...</em></figcaption></figure></picture></a>

<p>Piperine, the active compound in black pepper, <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsomega.2c07326">blocks</a> certain liver enzymes that would typically break down curcumin.</p>

<p>Piperine may also help by stimulating the release of digestive enzymes from the pancreas, improving overall digestion and nutrient absorption, and increasing blood supply to the digestive system, van der Merwe said.</p>

<p>Since curcumin is also fat-soluble, meaning it requires fat to be absorbed, eating turmeric with a fat source—such as avocado, olive oil, or coconut milk—can help the body absorb it better, van der Merwe said. Without fat, curcumin has a harder time transporting across the gut wall and into the body, limiting its effectiveness, she said.</p>

<h2>How to Incorporate Curcumin Into Meals</h2>

<p>Beyond how we pair turmeric to boost absorption, it’s a versatile ingredient that can be easily added to a variety of dishes and snacks.</p>

<p>Turmeric is traditionally used in curries and enhances the flavor of soups, marinades, and rice dishes, van der Merwe said. In baking, turmeric can add a unique twist to cookies and breads. It also blends beautifully into herbal teas, smoothies, or milk.</p>

<p>“<strong>My personal favorite ways to enjoy turmeric include spicy, savory muffins packed with vegetables, a soothing blend of rooibos tea with ginger and turmeric, and the classic pairing of a curry served with savory yellow rice</strong>,” van der Merwe said.</p>

<p>“I personally love it in my overnight oats,” Mary Curristin, nutritionist at ART Health Solutions, told The Epoch Times. Her other options include stirring it into scrambled eggs or roasted vegetables.</p>

<p>Remember that a small amount goes a long way—typically, one-fourth to one-half teaspoon of turmeric powder per serving delivers ample flavor and color, depending on personal taste and intensity preferences. Van der Merwe said turmeric also works well with spices such as cumin, coriander, ginger, cinnamon, and cardamom, creating aromatic and flavorful combinations in a variety of cuisines.</p>

<h2>Golden Latte Recipe</h2>

<p>One of the best ways to enjoy turmeric is in a cozy golden milk latte. This drink tastes great and brings those health benefits right to your cup—especially when paired with a pinch of black pepper for optimal absorption.</p>

<h3>Ingredients</h3>

<p>350 ml milk of choice</p>

<p>¼ teaspoon ground turmeric</p>

<p>¼ teaspoon ground ginger</p>

<p>½ teaspoon ground cinnamon</p>

<p>1 teaspoon raw honey or maple syrup</p>

<p>½ teaspoon vanilla extract</p>

<p>Grind of black pepper</p>

<h3>Instructions</h3>

<p>Combine all the ingredients in a saucepan and whisk continuously over low heat or using a milk frother if you have one. Once heated, pour into mugs and top with a sprinkle of cinnamon before serving.</p>

<p>To make this golden milk latte truly your own, feel free to tweak the recipe based on your taste preferences:</p>

<ul><li>Customize the spice mix to your liking. If you’re a fan of a spicier kick, try adding extra black pepper, ginger, or even a pinch of cayenne pepper.</li>
	<li>For a creamier texture, use a richer milk, like full-fat coconut milk, or add a spoonful of coconut oil or ghee.</li>
</ul></div>
      <span rel="schema:author" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" xml:lang="" data-sanitized-class="username">Tyler Durden</a></span>
<span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-05-14T02:15:00+00:00" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden">Tue, 05/13/2025 - 22:15</span>


guid: yt:video:Si9SPuJmIRo
author: ;C-SPAN
link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Si9SPuJmIRo
hash: ҄� �%�F�1� E
title:
Washington Today (5-13-25): House committees debate &amp; vote on GOP tax, Medicaid &amp; SNAP changes

attributes:
{"enclosures":[{"url":"https://www.youtube.com/v/Si9SPuJmIRo?version=3","title":"Washington Today (5-13-25): House committees debate &amp; vote on GOP tax, Medicaid &amp; SNAP changes","description":"Biggest parts of the House Republicans' and President Trump's &quot;One Big Beautiful Bill&quot; get marked up in committees, but some Republicans are not satisfied with the proposals on tax cuts and Medicaid cuts, and it could put the bill in jeopardy. We will hear from  Members and talk with Washington Post Congressional reporter Jacob Bogage. (1)\n\nPresident Donald Trump is in Saudi Arabia, signing cooperation agreements with that country and talking about the quest for Middle East peace, announcing he will repeal sanctions on Syria.\n\nSenate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) places a hold on the confirmation of Justice Department political nominees over the President's decision to accept a Boeing luxury airline to be used as a temporary Air Force One. \n\nTwenty states led by Democrats sue the Trump Administration over immigration enforcement requirements tied to federal grants.\n\nDownload the FREE C-SPAN Now App. https://www.c-span.org/c-spanNow/\n\nDiscover the C-SPAN Video Library at https://www.c-span.org/quickguide/\n\nExplore C-SPAN's Free Educational Resources at https://www.c-span.org/classroom/\n\nC-SPAN: Created by Cable in 1979. Offered as a public service.\n\nSupport C-SPAN by Donating Today: https://donorbox.org/support-c-span?utm_source=YouTube&amp;utm_medium=Video_Description&amp;utm_campaign=Donations&amp;utm_content=Donate\n\nSubscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/CSPAN \n\nFollow us:\nFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/CSPAN\nTwitter: https://twitter.com/cspan\nInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/cspan/\n\nSubscribe:\nC-SPAN Podcasts: https://www.c-span.org/podcasts/\nNewsletters: https://www.c-span.org/connect/\nVisit the C-SPAN Shop: https://c-spanshop.org/\n#cspan","type":"application/x-shockwave-flash","height":390,"width":640,"thumbnails":["https://i4.ytimg.com/vi/Si9SPuJmIRo/hqdefault.jpg"]}]}


guid: 1030183 at https://www.zerohedge.com
title: Hamas Gaza Leader Muhammad Sinwar Targeted In Israeli Airstrikes On Hospital
author: ;Tyler Durden
hash: dX�e`2m� Ta�y�1
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
content:
<span property="schema:name" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Hamas Gaza Leader Muhammad Sinwar Targeted In Israeli Airstrikes On Hospital</span>

            <div property="schema:text" data-sanitized-class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>The Israeli military has announced a major operation in Gaza, which has targeted Muhammad Sinwar, who <strong>took over as the head of Hamas in Gaza following the killing of his brother</strong>, the better known late Hamas leader <strong>Yahya Sinwar</strong>, in October.</p>

<p>Israeli jets targeted Sinwar during a major hospital strike in the southern Gaza Strip on Tuesday afternoon. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) claimed in a statement that it hit senior leaders in an underground command center, described as below the European Hospital in Khan Younis.</p>
<a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/sinwars.jpg?itok=L1CUElNT" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/sinwars.jpg?itok=L1CUElNT"><picture><figure role="group" data-sanitized-class="caption caption-img inline-images image-style-inline-images"><img alt="" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="e952984e-2e36-487d-a0d6-41dff5618bba" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="281" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/sinwars.jpg?itok=L1CUElNT" typeof="foaf:Image" width="500"><figcaption><em>Sinwar brothers, with the younger Muhammad Sinwar (right), via Fox News</em></figcaption></figure></picture></a>

<p>The air raid saw <strong>at least nine bombs dropped</strong>, with the <strong>ground having utterly collapsed</strong> in the area of the strike, which suggests there will be high civilian casualties. The jets may have used large US-supplied bunker-busting bombs.</p>

<p>Indeed, the <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/hamass-gaza-leader-muhammad-sinwar-targeted-in-idf-strike-fate-unclear/"><em>Times of Israel</em></a> soon after reported that "The Hamas-run health ministry reported <strong>16 dead and over 70 wounded in the strike</strong>, though there was <strong>no immediate word if Sinwar was among the casualties</strong>."</p>

<p>The IDF is still working to confirm whether Sinwar is among the dead. Israeli sources said there was a "small window of opportunity" for the strike given Hamas leaders are utilizing the vast tunnel network that exists under the hospital.</p>

<p>Israeli commanders shrugged off the international outrage and criticism over its jets targeting a hospital to go after a Hamas leader:</p>

<blockquote>
<p><em>"The Hamas terror organization continues to use hospitals in the Gaza Strip for terror purposes, cynically and cruelly exploiting the civilian population in and around the hospital," the IDF said.</em></p>
</blockquote>

<p>It was only on Monday that Hamas released the last Israeli-American hostage, Edan Alexander, after the Trump White House's mediation.</p>

<p>Prime Minister Netanyahu has since vowed to continue hostage negotiations, but stipulated these talks with Hamas would <strong>take place "under fire"</strong> - meaning there will be no accompanying truce.</p>

<p>According to background on Sinwar from the <a href="https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/israel-targeted-hamas-leader-mohammed-sinwar-in-gaza-airstrike-2a1f7959">WSJ</a>:</p>

<blockquote>
<p data="[object Object]" data-type="paragraph"><em><strong>Mohammed Sinwar was responsible for building up Hamas’s military wing, and was close to the U.S.-designated terrorist group’s top military commander, Mohammed Deif</strong>, <a data-type="link" href="https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/israel-declares-it-killed-hamas-military-chief-in-july-airstrike-58535a27?mod=article_inline" rel="" target="_blank">who was killed</a> by Israel last year. His brother Yahya, was the mastermind behind the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel that launched the war. Israel killed three of Yahya Sinwar’s top deputies throughout the war, including Deif, and Hamas’s <a data-type="link" href="https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/hamas-political-leader-ismail-haniyeh-killed-in-iran-5723ad8b?mod=article_inline" rel="" target="_blank">political head</a> Ismail Haniyeh. </em></p>

<p data="[object Object]" data-type="paragraph"><em>If Mohammed Sinwar is dead, it would mean that the most important Hamas leaders behind the Oct. 7 attack have been taken out by Israel. After the Oct. 7 attack, <a data-type="link" href="https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/israel-plans-to-kill-hamas-leaders-around-the-world-after-war-da88e6b9?mod=article_inline" rel="" target="_blank">Israel vowed to kill all of Hamas’s top leadership</a>, including those abroad, and anyone who took part in or planned the attack. </em></p>
</blockquote>

<blockquote data-sanitized-class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en">🚨🚨 The attack on the European Hospital in Gaza: An attempt to assassinate Hamas leader Mohammed Sinwar. <a href="https://t.co/GGd45hZOXK">pic.twitter.com/GGd45hZOXK</a></p>
— Amichai Stein (@AmichaiStein1) <a href="https://twitter.com/AmichaiStein1/status/1922321660058755190?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 13, 2025</a></blockquote>
<p data="[object Object]" data-type="paragraph">Meanwhile, President Trump said from Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, "We continue to work to get that war ended as quickly as possible. It is a horrible thing that is taking place."</p>

<p data="[object Object]" data-type="paragraph">Recent reports say that tensions between Trump and Netanyahu are growing, given the Israeli leader's apparent reluctance to continue negotiating for the freedom of the remaining hostages. Netanyahu is instead pressing forward with a military solution.</p>
</div>
      <span rel="schema:author" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" xml:lang="" data-sanitized-class="username">Tyler Durden</a></span>
<span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-05-13T23:40:00+00:00" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden">Tue, 05/13/2025 - 19:40</span>

link:
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/hamas-gaza-leader-muhammad-sinwar-targeted-israeli-airstrikes-hospital


guid: 1030235 at https://www.zerohedge.com
title: Federal Judge Says Trump's Invocation Of Alien Enemies Act Was Legal
author: ;Tyler Durden
hash: ��g�;��rdG�%b��
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
content:
<span property="schema:name" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Federal Judge Says Trump's Invocation Of Alien Enemies Act Was Legal</span>

            <div property="schema:text" data-sanitized-class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p><a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/federal-judge-says-trumps-invocation-of-alien-enemies-act-was-legal-5857311?utm_source=partner&amp;utm_campaign=ZeroHedge"><em>Authored by Sam Dorman via The Epoch Times,</em></a></p>

<p>A federal judge in Pennsylvania has said that President Donald Trump validly invoked the Alien Enemies Act in March as part of an effort to deport Venezuelan gang members.</p>

<p><a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/image%20-%202025-05-13T160039.671.jpg?itok=VLiSPK6g" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/image%20-%202025-05-13T160039.671.jpg?itok=VLiSPK6g"><picture><img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="271ebabf-717c-4d23-a290-ab05fbdf3d8e" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="333" width="500" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/image%20-%202025-05-13T160039.671.jpg?itok=VLiSPK6g" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" data-sanitized-class="inline-images image-style-inline-images"></picture></a></p>

<p>More specifically, U.S. District Judge Stephanie <strong>Haines <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.pawd.318716/gov.uscourts.pawd.318716.72.0_4.pdf">held</a> that the gang - Tren de Aragua (TdA) - was engaging in the type of “predatory incursion” that the Alien Enemies Act mentions.</strong></p>

<p>In an opinion on May 13, Haines noted that TdA has been designated a foreign terrorist organization. </p>

<p>That designation, she said,<em> “heavily supports the conclusions ... that TdA is a cohesive group united by a common goal of causing significant disruption to the public safety of the United States.”</em></p>

<p><strong>Haines, a Trump appointee, emphasized her “unflagging obligation is to apply the law as written.” </strong></p>

<blockquote>
<p><em>“Having done its job, the Court now leaves it to the Political Branches of the government, and ultimately to the people who elect those individuals, to decide whether the laws and those executing them continue to reflect their will,” Haines wrote in her <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.pawd.318716/gov.uscourts.pawd.318716.72.0_4.pdf" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">43-page ruling</a>.</em></p>
</blockquote>

<p><strong>Three other district court judges have <a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/federal-judge-says-trump-misapplied-wartime-law-for-venezuelan-deportations-5853342">ruled against</a> the Trump administration</strong>, stating that Trump misapplied the law with a proclamation he issued in March. </p>

<p>Each of those judges disagreed with Trump’s description of TdA as engaging in an invasion or predatory incursion.</p>

<p><strong>The government can now proceed, so long as they provide 21-days’ notice to migrants in both English and Spanish.</strong></p>

<p><em>“The Court recognizes that it may need to conduct further analysis and consider additional issues related to the specifics of notice in the future,” Haines wrote.</em></p>

<p><em>“However, at this preliminary stage of this case, the Court finds that the foregoing is appropriate and complies with the law.”</em></p>

<p> </p>
</div>
      <span rel="schema:author" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" xml:lang="" data-sanitized-class="username">Tyler Durden</a></span>
<span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-05-14T00:05:00+00:00" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden">Tue, 05/13/2025 - 20:05</span>

link:
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/federal-judge-says-trumps-invocation-alien-enemies-act-was-legal


guid: yt:video:K-lAaP3ebFw
title: Laith Marouf: The Rise of Yemen’s Resistance: A Force the World Can’t Ignore
author: ;Dialogue Works
link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-lAaP3ebFw
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guid: yt:video:rY_pZu_anJU
title: Ray McGovern and John Helmer: Can Trump Understand the New Middle East? Everything Has Changed
author: ;Dialogue Works
link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rY_pZu_anJU
hash: 2QZ3qȭE? ��$
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guid: 1030187 at https://www.zerohedge.com
title: Trump's 'Big, Beautiful Bill' Would Slash Suppressor Transfer Costs To Zero
author: ;Tyler Durden
link: https://www.zerohedge.com/political/trumps-big-beautiful-bill-would-slash-suppressor-transfers-zero
hash: f��T#9�\Z��m���
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
content:
<span property="schema:name" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Trump's 'Big, Beautiful Bill' Would Slash Suppressor Transfer Costs To Zero</span>

            <div property="schema:text" data-sanitized-class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>In just a few weeks, House Republicans aim to finalize the details of President Trump's "big, beautiful bill," which seeks to fulfill his campaign pledges—such as eliminating taxes on tips and overtime pay—alongside new tax breaks, as well as sweeping changes to immigration and energy policy.</p>

<p>Beyond the president's populist priorities, the draft version of the tax bill released Monday by House Republicans has sparked controversy within the Second Amendment community.</p>

<p>At the center of the debate is Section 112030, which proposes eliminating the $200 transfer tax on suppressors, or "silencers," enacted initially under the National Firearms Act of 1934. While the measure would scrap the tax, it would leave the rest of the NFA intact, meaning Form 4 paperwork and a background check would still be required for each purchase.</p>

<p><a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/2025-05-13_15-26-46.png?itok=qdNEVpZn" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/2025-05-13_15-26-46.png?itok=qdNEVpZn"><picture><img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="30875060-ea9a-4e40-90ae-cd6185e71074" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="442" width="500" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/2025-05-13_15-26-46.png?itok=qdNEVpZn" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" data-sanitized-class="inline-images image-style-inline-images"></picture></a></p>

<p>Gun Owners of America (GOA) slammed House Republicans on X: </p>

<blockquote>
<p><em>Congress can gut the National Firearms Act using budget reconciliation because the NFA is a $200 tax. By merely proposing to reduce the transfer tax on suppressors (even to $0), @WaysandMeansGOP are leaving the federal gun registry in place for ... EVERYTHING! This is UNACCEPTABLE!</em></p>
</blockquote>

<blockquote data-sanitized-class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en">Congress can gut the National Firearms Act using budget reconciliation because the NFA is a $200 tax.<br><br>
By merely proposing to reduce the transfer tax on suppressors (even to $0), <a href="https://twitter.com/WaysandMeansGOP?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WaysandMeansGOP</a> are leaving the federal gun registry in place for EVERYTHING!<br><br>
This is UNACCEPTABLE! <a href="https://t.co/B5pTy0cCBu">https://t.co/B5pTy0cCBu</a> <a href="https://t.co/GwexwolilZ">pic.twitter.com/GwexwolilZ</a></p>
— Gun Owners of America (@GunOwners) <a href="https://twitter.com/GunOwners/status/1922027165819802029?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 12, 2025</a></blockquote>
<p>In other words, House Republicans aim to eliminate the $200 tax on suppressors rather than fully deregulate purchases.</p>

<p><a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/getimage.jpg?itok=83ydTudc" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/getimage.jpg?itok=83ydTudc"><picture><img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="4cbabdf1-b7fa-49ec-96a4-2882e54e1305" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="375" width="500" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/getimage.jpg?itok=83ydTudc" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" data-sanitized-class="inline-images image-style-inline-images"></picture></a></p>

<p>"This isn't a compromise, it's a betrayal. The House Ways and Means Committee chose to leave unconstitutional registration and taxes in place even though they had a clear path to repeal them. GOA made it crystal clear that full deregulation of suppressors and protection for brace owners was achievable under reconciliation. Lawmakers knew it, and they chose political convenience over principle. Gun owners won't forget this," GOA Founder Erich Pratt wrote in a statement. </p>

<p>GOA's Aidan Johnston noted: "Congress has a clear path to dismantle the National Firearms Act through budget reconciliation because it is a $200 tax—plain and simple."</p>
</div>
      <span rel="schema:author" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" xml:lang="" data-sanitized-class="username">Tyler Durden</a></span>
<span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-05-14T00:30:00+00:00" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden">Tue, 05/13/2025 - 20:30</span>


guid: 1030249 at https://www.zerohedge.com
title: Federal Grand Jury Indicts Wisconsin Judge Accused Of Helping Illegal Immigrant Evade ICE
author: ;Tyler Durden
hash: �K�Ah�T���x� v
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
content:
<span property="schema:name" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Federal Grand Jury Indicts Wisconsin Judge Accused Of Helping Illegal Immigrant Evade ICE</span>

            <div property="schema:text" data-sanitized-class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p><a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/federal-grand-jury-indicts-wisconsin-judge-accused-of-helping-illegal-immigrant-evade-ice-5857378?utm_source=partner&amp;utm_campaign=ZeroHedge"><em>Authored by T.J.Muscaro via The Epoch Times,</em></a></p>

<p>Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan was indicted by a federal grand jury on May 13, after being arrested and accused of helping an illegal immigrant evade Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) last month.</p>

<p><a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/image%20-%202025-05-13T174319.548.jpg?itok=YJMekrFl" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/image%20-%202025-05-13T174319.548.jpg?itok=YJMekrFl"><picture><img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="10329015-a05e-4af3-a140-5329b9227764" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="333" width="500" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/image%20-%202025-05-13T174319.548.jpg?itok=YJMekrFl" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" data-sanitized-class="inline-images image-style-inline-images"></picture></a></p>

<p><strong>Her indictment comes after she was arrested by the FBI on April 25 and subsequently suspended from her duties as a judge by the Wisconsin Supreme Court.</strong></p>

<p>The grand jury reviewed the charges brought forth in a complaint, as a check on the prosecutor’s power, and determined that enough probable cause existed to continue the case.</p>

<p><strong>Dugan faces one count of “obstructing or impeding a proceeding before a department or agency,” and another of “concealing an individual to prevent his discovery and arrest.”</strong></p>

<p>Her next court appearance was previously scheduled for May 15, and she could face more disciplinary actions against her license to practice law.</p>

<p>According to her defense attorneys, she maintains her innocence and expects to be vindicated in court.</p>

<p>She was assigned to preside over a hearing for Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, a Mexican national who was charged with <a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/5-things-we-know-about-wisconsin-judges-arrest-for-allegedly-obstructing-ice-5847586">domestic violence</a>, on April 18. Flores-Ruiz had previously been deported in 2013, and there was no evidence that he reentered the country legally.</p>

<p>The FBI agents and deportation officers planned to arrest Flores-Ruiz after the hearing.</p>

<p>However, according to the affidavit, witnesses said <strong>Dugan appeared “visibly upset and had a confrontational, angry demeanor,” upon learning of the arrest party’s arrival.</strong></p>

<p>They alleged that Dugan “escorted” Flores Ruiz and his lawyer “out of the courtroom through the ‘jury door,’ which leads to a nonpublic area of the courthouse,” after she “ordered” the team of FBI and deportation officials to go to the chief judge’s office. </p>

<p>The jury door is normally used by defendants only if they are in the custody of deputies.</p>

<p><strong>Another officer, according to the affidavit, noticed Flores-Ruiz and his lawyer on an elevator and alerted the arrest team.</strong></p>

<p>Flores-Ruiz was apprehended after a foot chase outside the courthouse.</p>

<p>FBI director Kash Patel said <strong>investigators believe Dugan “intentionally misdirected federal agents” away from Flores-Ruiz, as officers were preparing to arrest him</strong> in the courthouse where the judge works.</p>
</div>
      <span rel="schema:author" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" xml:lang="" data-sanitized-class="username">Tyler Durden</a></span>
<span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-05-14T00:55:00+00:00" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden">Tue, 05/13/2025 - 20:55</span>

link:
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/federal-grand-jury-indicts-wisconsin-judge-accused-helping-illegal-immigrant-evade-ice


guid: 1030199 at https://www.zerohedge.com
title: Harvard Hammered: Feds Yank An Additional $450 Million In Grants
author: ;Tyler Durden
link: https://www.zerohedge.com/political/harvard-hammered-feds-yank-additional-450-million-grants
hash: S&��3�� (��_
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
content:
<span property="schema:name" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Harvard Hammered: Feds Yank An Additional $450 Million In Grants</span>

            <div property="schema:text" data-sanitized-class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p><strong>Harvard University is facing another crushing financial blow - this time losing an additional $450 million in federal grants</strong> - as the Trump administration ramps up pressure on elite schools it accuses of fostering anti-Semitism and political bias, which for some reason seems like the only topic to which the 1st Amendment does not apply.</p>

<p><a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/Harvard-University-1a_0.jpg?itok=hnIYnVGb" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/Harvard-University-1a_0.jpg?itok=hnIYnVGb"><picture><img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="d0c13365-bb22-4461-8f82-b763fdce330a" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="332" width="500" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/Harvard-University-1a_0.jpg?itok=hnIYnVGb" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" data-sanitized-class="inline-images image-style-inline-images"></picture></a></p>

<p>The decision, announced Monday by the Joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism, brings the total value of frozen and canceled grants and contracts to a staggering $2.65 billion. The task force, established in February under a Trump executive order, blasted <strong>Harvard for repeatedly failing "to confront the pervasive race discrimination and anti-Semitic harassment plaguing its campus." </strong></p>

<p>“Jewish students were subjected to pervasive insults, physical assault, and intimidation, with no meaningful response from Harvard’s leadership,” the task force said in a <a href="https://www.ed.gov/about/news/press-release/joint-task-force-combat-anti-semitism-statement-additional-harvard-actions">statement</a> released via the Department of Education.</p>

<p>One particularly explosive allegation involves <strong>a protester charged with assaulting a Jewish student who was later awarded a $65,000 fellowship by the Harvard Law Review</strong> - a decision reportedly approved by faculty. The task force cited the incident as evidence of the “radical” direction of the Ivy League institution.</p>

<p>“Harvard’s campus, once a symbol of academic prestige, has become a breeding ground for virtue signaling and discrimination,” the statement said. “By prioritizing appeasement over accountability, institutional leaders have forfeited the school’s claim to taxpayer support.”</p>

<p>The move follows a fiery exchange of letters between Harvard President Alan M. Garber and Secretary of Education Linda E. McMahon.</p>

<p>In a May 5 letter, <strong>McMahon accused Harvard of violating federal law through systemic bias, a politicized admissions process, and “ugly racism” within its academic bodies</strong>, including the Harvard Law Review. She slammed the university's leadership, accusing board chair and former Obama commerce secretary Penny Pritzker of “running the institution in a totally chaotic way.”</p>

<p>McMahon made clear that the government was done cutting checks.</p>

<p>“<strong>Harvard should no longer seek GRANTS from the federal government, since none will be provided</strong>,” she wrote.</p>

<p>The bombshell comes on the heels of an earlier freeze of $2.2 billion in grants and $60 million in contracts in April. The May 13 announcement adds another $450 million in terminations, as multiple federal agencies pull support.</p>

<h2>'Harvard Will Not Surrender'</h2>

<p>Garber fired back in a May 12 response, calling the actions political retaliation and accusing the administration of trying to strong-arm a private institution.</p>

<p>“<strong>Harvard will not surrender its core, legally-protected principles out of fear of unfounded retaliation by the federal government</strong>,” he wrote, denying charges of bias and defending the university’s admissions and hiring as merit-based.</p>

<p>Garber also rejected suggestions that Harvard students — including its international population — pose a greater risk of violence or misconduct.</p>

<p>The university, he said, has “commenced initiatives” to increase intellectual diversity and fight all forms of bigotry, including anti-Semitism.</p>

<p>But the Education Department isn’t buying it. In its letter, it cited multiple disturbing allegations — including claims that Harvard Law Review editors discriminated based on race and prioritized submissions based on contributors’ skin color.</p>

<p><strong>Federal authorities opened a formal investigation into the student-run journal on April 28.</strong></p>

<p>Harvard’s financial headaches appear to be mounting. In a bid to shore up its resources amid the federal crackdown, the university sold $450 million in bonds in March and another $750 million in April.</p>

<p>The Department of Education and affiliated agencies show no signs of backing off.</p>

<p>“<strong>At its best, a university should fulfill the highest ideals of our Nation</strong>,” McMahon wrote. “But Harvard has betrayed this ideal.”</p>

<p>The New York Post has reached out to Harvard for comment.</p>
</div>
      <span rel="schema:author" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" xml:lang="" data-sanitized-class="username">Tyler Durden</a></span>
<span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-05-14T01:20:00+00:00" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden">Tue, 05/13/2025 - 21:20</span>


guid: 1030208 at https://www.zerohedge.com
title: Trump Admin Targets Journal's "Proximal Origin" Paper Which Dismissed Possible Wuhan Lab Accident
author: ;Tyler Durden
hash: �&~ȌD��������
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
content:
<span property="schema:name" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Trump Admin Targets Journal's "Proximal Origin" Paper Which Dismissed Possible Wuhan Lab Accident</span>

            <div property="schema:text" data-sanitized-class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p><em><a href="https://disinformationchronicle.substack.com/p/exclusive-trump-administration-targets">Authored by Paul D. Thacker via the DisInformation Chronicle</a>,</em></p>

<p>A brief flurry of media reports last month criticized letters sent to medical journals by Edward R. Martin Jr., the former interim U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, who questioned whether journals have become “partisans in various scientific debates.”<strong> One liberal academic <a href="https://x.com/_eric_reinhart/status/1912958244768690407?s=61">called the letters</a> “fascist tactics” designed “to intimidate academic journals” triggering similar allegations across the media.</strong></p>

<p><strong>“Experts worry this will have a chilling effect on publications,</strong>” <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/18/health/trump-martin-us-attorney-medical-journals.html">reported the New York Times</a>, noting that an obscure journal called CHEST had been targeted.</p>

<p>“<strong>DOJ questions science journal about bias, triggering free-speech concerns</strong>,” <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2025/04/18/doj-questions-chest-journal-science/">reported the Washington Post</a>, adding that three major publishers of medical journals, including the New England Journal of Medicine and Health Affairs, said they had not received letters, while publisher Springer Nature chose not to comment. NPR <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2025/05/02/nx-s1-5374993/medical-journals-hit-with-threatening-letters-from-justice-department">reported last week that</a> the New England Journal of Medicine had in fact received a letter as had the American Medical Association’s journal JAMA.</p>

<p>The DisInformation Chronicle has learned that <strong>the actual target of Martin’s letters is the Nature Springer journal Nature Medicine, publisher of a highly controversial paper “Proximal Origin” </strong>which has faced charges of corruption and calls for retraction. A source inside the Department of Health and Human Services said<strong> Trump officials suspect the paper is a quid pro quo, written by the authors to dismiss the possibility of a lab accident and who then received a large grant months later from Tony Fauci.</strong></p>

<p>The existence of the Nature Medicine letter has not been previously reported and is being made public for the first time. After Martin <a href="https://disinformationchronicle.substack.com/p/U.S.%20attorney%20for%20the%20District%20of%20Columbia">lost support among Republicans</a> to be confirmed as U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, President Trump picked him <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5292043-trump-ed-martin-justice-department/">to head a new Weaponization Working Group</a> inside the Justice Department.</p>

<p><a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/https-3A-2F-2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com-2Fpublic-2Fimages-2F682aa884-43d8-4824-bef2-694965947de5_814x498.jpeg_92.jpg?itok=_DDGzwyF" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/https-3A-2F-2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com-2Fpublic-2Fimages-2F682aa884-43d8-4824-bef2-694965947de5_814x498.jpeg_92.jpg?itok=_DDGzwyF"><picture><img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="0d685dcd-2efe-4043-b5b7-431aae81cf65" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="306" width="500" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/https-3A-2F-2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com-2Fpublic-2Fimages-2F682aa884-43d8-4824-bef2-694965947de5_814x498.jpeg_92.jpg?itok=_DDGzwyF" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" data-sanitized-class="inline-images image-style-inline-images"></picture></a></p>

<h2>Follow the science</h2>

<p>Published in the third month of the COVID pandemic and arguing “we do not believe that any type of laboratory-based scenario is plausible,”<strong> the “<a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-020-0820-9">Proximal Origin</a>” paper became a handy tool for NIH officials and virologists </strong>attempting to dismiss as a “conspiracy theory” claims that the pandemic could have started in a Wuhan lab funded by Fauci. Nature Medicine’s editor-in-chief, Joao Monteiro, tweeted that the paper “put conspiracy theories” about the pandemic’s possible lab origin to rest.</p>

<p><a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/https-3A-2F-2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com-2Fpublic-2Fimages-2F238205ad-e648-46fa-86f7-6b3731c8f56d_784x400_png_92.jpg?itok=ZAN44aWv" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/https-3A-2F-2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com-2Fpublic-2Fimages-2F238205ad-e648-46fa-86f7-6b3731c8f56d_784x400_png_92.jpg?itok=ZAN44aWv"><picture><img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="328e2894-df52-4c4e-ad2e-c285fb7acc7e" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="255" width="500" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/https-3A-2F-2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com-2Fpublic-2Fimages-2F238205ad-e648-46fa-86f7-6b3731c8f56d_784x400_png_92.jpg?itok=ZAN44aWv" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" data-sanitized-class="inline-images image-style-inline-images"></picture></a></p>

<p><strong>NIH Director Francis Collins promoted the “Proximal Origin” paper weeks after Nature Medicine published it on his <a href="https://directorsblog.nih.gov/2020/03/26/genomic-research-points-natural-origin-of-covid-19/">March 2020 NIH Director's Blog</a></strong>, and Fauci then seized upon the paper during a televised White House briefing a month afterwards.</p>

<p>“There was a study recently that we can make available to you,” <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-a8xK2c_ye4">Fauci said</a> during the White House briefing, “<strong>where a group of highly qualified evolutionary virologists look at the sequences</strong> there and the sequences in bats as they evolve and the mutations that it took to get to the point where it is now is totally consistent with a jump of species from an animal to a human.”</p>

<p><strong>The paper would go on to become one of the most heavily cited scientific papers in 2020. </strong>The Nation <a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/society/nih-emails-origin-covid-lab-theory/">reported in 2023</a> that “Proximal Origin” had been accessed online more than 5.7 million times and more than 2,000 media outlets had cited it. ABC News, for instance, ran an article titled “<a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/conspiracy-theorists-study-concludes-covid-19-laboratory-construct/story?id=69827832">Sorry, Conspiracy Theorists. Study Concludes Covid-19 ‘Is Not a Laboratory Construct</a>.’”</p>

<p>But by then, cracks had already appeared.</p>

<h2>Follow the money, follow the documents</h2>

<p>Emails made public through freedom of information act requests and by congressional <a href="https://disinformationchronicle.substack.com/p/will-the-biden-administration-investigate">investigators in 2022 showed that the papers’ authors</a> had run it past funders—Francis Collins and Tony Fauci at the NIH, as well as with Jeremy Farrar, who was then at the Wellcome Trust.<strong> In one example, lead author Kristian Andersen with the Scripps Research Institute <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23340127-andersen-thanks-fauci-collins-farrar/">emailed the three funders</a> thanking them for their “advice and leadership”</strong> and offering them a right to comment and give suggestions.</p>

<p><a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/https-3A-2F-2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com-2Fpublic-2Fimages-2F84da18f0-40e8-406a-bc8c-c8d2efd8393f_784x760_png_92.jpg?itok=lQUyHRjN" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/https-3A-2F-2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com-2Fpublic-2Fimages-2F84da18f0-40e8-406a-bc8c-c8d2efd8393f_784x760_png_92.jpg?itok=lQUyHRjN"><picture><img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="dbeeb4ec-0d17-4c0e-bc99-1f9823869126" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="485" width="500" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/https-3A-2F-2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com-2Fpublic-2Fimages-2F84da18f0-40e8-406a-bc8c-c8d2efd8393f_784x760_png_92.jpg?itok=lQUyHRjN" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" data-sanitized-class="inline-images image-style-inline-images"></picture></a></p>

<p>Further emails and internal slack discussions calling into question the credibility of “Proximal Origin” became public in the summer of 2023 following a congressional hearing. During the hearing, <a href="https://oversight.house.gov/hearing/investigating-the-proximal-origin-of-a-cover-up/">Republicans charged that</a> Tony Fauci had helped orchestrate the paper’s publication. However, Democrats countered <a href="https://oversightdemocrats.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/democrats-oversight.house.gov/files/For%20Distribution-2023.07.11%20Proximal%20Origin%20Democratic%20Staff%20Report.pdf">by releasing a report</a> that found Wellcome Trust’s Jeremy Farrar helped “organize and facilitate” and “led the drafting process of the paper.”</p>

<p><strong>“Jeremy, Dr. Farrar has been an amazing leader,” wrote “Proximal Origin” co-author Robert Garry of Tulane University in an <a href="https://oversightdemocrats.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/democrats-oversight.house.gov/files/For%20Distribution-2023.07.11%20Proximal%20Origin%20Democratic%20Staff%20Report.pdf">email released by House Democrats</a>.</strong> “Should be author.”</p>

<p>When questioned about his email <a href="https://oversightdemocrats.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/democrats-oversight.house.gov/files/For%20Distribution-2023.07.11%20Proximal%20Origin%20Democratic%20Staff%20Report.pdf">during a House deposition</a>, Garry agreed that Farrar should have been listed as an author.</p>

<p><a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/https-3A-2F-2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com-2Fpublic-2Fimages-2Fa7672c90-0379-4c89-8ead-a3c3ddb5ac5b_1148x264_png_92.jpg?itok=OJI4TE52" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/https-3A-2F-2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com-2Fpublic-2Fimages-2Fa7672c90-0379-4c89-8ead-a3c3ddb5ac5b_1148x264_png_92.jpg?itok=OJI4TE52"><picture><img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="92072b7d-01a1-4234-98a7-e3b68be8b89c" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="115" width="500" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/https-3A-2F-2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com-2Fpublic-2Fimages-2Fa7672c90-0379-4c89-8ead-a3c3ddb5ac5b_1148x264_png_92.jpg?itok=OJI4TE52" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" data-sanitized-class="inline-images image-style-inline-images"></picture></a></p>

<p>According to <a href="https://www.nature.com/nature-portfolio/editorial-policies/competing-interests">Nature’s editorial policy</a>, “A specific role for the funder in the conceptualization, design, data collection, analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript, should be disclosed.” However, the paper failed to note the involvement of either Fauci or Farrar, and Nature Medicine has refused to follow its own ethics guidelines.</p>

<p>News sites the <a href="https://www.public.news/p/top-scientists-misled-congress-about">Racket and Public co-published</a> a slack message Andersen sent to his “Proximal Origin” co-authors on April 16, 2020, a month after Nature Medicine published the paper in March 2020.</p>

<p>“<strong>I’m still not fully convinced that no culture was involved,”</strong> Andersen wrote his co-authors, a month after publishing the paper that concluded the virus was not a laboratory construct. “We also can't fully rule out engineering (for basic research).”</p>

<p><a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/https-3A-2F-2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com-2Fpublic-2Fimages-2F943e9be4-1b7e-43b9-81a7-c919f39f72d4_1280x444_png_92.jpg?itok=HCAOfOaC" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/https-3A-2F-2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com-2Fpublic-2Fimages-2F943e9be4-1b7e-43b9-81a7-c919f39f72d4_1280x444_png_92.jpg?itok=HCAOfOaC"><picture><img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="16aed619-1ed5-4f35-a291-ae0d759fd5fa" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="173" width="500" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/https-3A-2F-2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com-2Fpublic-2Fimages-2F943e9be4-1b7e-43b9-81a7-c919f39f72d4_1280x444_png_92.jpg?itok=HCAOfOaC" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" data-sanitized-class="inline-images image-style-inline-images"></picture></a></p>

<p>Days after the congressional hearing, the group BioSafety Now wrote a <a href="https://biosafetynow.org/open-letter-to-nature-medicine/">letter to Nature Medicine</a>, signed by over 50 scientists, demanding retraction of “Proximal Origin.” The letter cited an <a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/covid-origins-congress-hearing/">investigation published by The Nation</a> reporting on internal emails by the “Proximal Origin” authors that showed they didn’t even believe what they wrote in the paper.</p>

<p>“The main issue is that accidental release is in fact highly likely,” the Nation reported that <a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/covid-origins-congress-hearing/">Andersen wrote in a message</a> to co-authors some weeks before Nature Medicine published the paper. An online campaign by BioSafety Now <a href="https://www.change.org/p/retract-the-proximal-origin-of-sars-cov-2?utm_source=share_petition&amp;utm_medium=custom_url&amp;recruited_by_id=9f60ee10-00e3-11ee-916b-7965ce61e863">has since garnered</a> over 5,700 signatures petitioning Nature Medicine to retract the paper.</p>

<p>In <a href="https://legacy.www.documentcloud.org/documents/25938992-doj-letter-to-joao-monteiro-editor-in-chief-nature-medicine-03-28-25">his letter to Nature Medicine</a>, Martin wrote that he has been told that some journals “have a position for which they are advocating due to advertisement (under postal code) or sponsorship (under relevant fraud regulations).”</p>

<p>The <a href="https://legacy.www.documentcloud.org/documents/25938992-doj-letter-to-joao-monteiro-editor-in-chief-nature-medicine-03-28-25">letter also asks</a>, “How do you clearly articulate to the public when you have certain viewpoints that are influenced by your ongoing relations with supporters, funders, advertisers, and others?”</p>

<p><a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/https-3A-2F-2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com-2Fpublic-2Fimages-2Fcaaffb0c-cef7-413c-a97b-2b89ba233f2e_1794x1100_png_92.jpg?itok=XaP1lWw0" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/https-3A-2F-2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com-2Fpublic-2Fimages-2Fcaaffb0c-cef7-413c-a97b-2b89ba233f2e_1794x1100_png_92.jpg?itok=XaP1lWw0"><picture><img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="cd47af27-cd02-4e02-96f4-1257aa696382" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="307" width="500" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/https-3A-2F-2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com-2Fpublic-2Fimages-2Fcaaffb0c-cef7-413c-a97b-2b89ba233f2e_1794x1100_png_92.jpg?itok=XaP1lWw0" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" data-sanitized-class="inline-images image-style-inline-images"></picture></a></p>

<p>A source close to the investigation said this question pertains to a grant Fauci awarded Andersen and Garry several months after they published “Proximal Origin” dismissing the possibility of a lab accident. Allegations that this grant was a bribe from Fauci have dogged Andersen for several years, accusations which he dismissed under oath during the July 2023 congressional hearing.</p>

<p>“<strong>There is no connection between the grant and the conclusions we reached about the origin of the pandemic</strong>,” <a href="https://oversight.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Dr.-Kristian-Andersen-Written-Testimony-Corrected-Version-1.pdf">Andersen wrote in sworn testimony to Congress</a>. “We applied for this grant in June 2019, and it was scored and reviewed by independent experts in November 2019.”</p>

<p>The Intercept later reported that Andersen “<a href="https://theintercept.com/2023/07/21/covid-origin-nih-lab-leak/">knew that was false</a>.” <strong>NIH records show the grant to Andersen wasn’t finalized until May 21, 2020, two months after Andersen published “Proximal Origin” in Nature Medicine.</strong></p>

<p><a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/https-3A-2F-2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com-2Fpublic-2Fimages-2Fc524c961-19f8-430a-a946-464b684521d6_1302x910_png_92.jpg?itok=c_Zbp1IG" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/https-3A-2F-2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com-2Fpublic-2Fimages-2Fc524c961-19f8-430a-a946-464b684521d6_1302x910_png_92.jpg?itok=c_Zbp1IG"><picture><img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="14391ebf-6411-421b-a27a-be5dc25178b7" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="350" width="500" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/https-3A-2F-2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com-2Fpublic-2Fimages-2Fc524c961-19f8-430a-a946-464b684521d6_1302x910_png_92.jpg?itok=c_Zbp1IG" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" data-sanitized-class="inline-images image-style-inline-images"></picture></a></p>

<p>In a guest essay earlier this month for The DisInformation Chronicle, <a href="https://disinformationchronicle.substack.com/p/nih-infectious-disease-researcher">an NIH infectious disease researcher wrote</a> that the “Proximal Origin” authors left a gaping hole in their analysis by failing to account for a common method to manipulate viruses called “serial passaging.”</p>

<p>“And because they didn’t discuss this very common laboratory practice, they did not ‘disprove’ a laboratory origin for the virus,” <a href="https://disinformationchronicle.substack.com/p/nih-infectious-disease-researcher">the NIH research official wrote</a>. “I have no idea how ignoring something so obvious could make it pass peer review and get published in a prestigious journal like Nature Medicine.”</p>

<p><em>Subscribe to The DisInformation Chronicle <strong><a href="https://disinformationchronicle.substack.com/subscribe">here...</a></strong></em></p>
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      <span rel="schema:author" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" xml:lang="" data-sanitized-class="username">Tyler Durden</a></span>
<span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-05-14T01:45:00+00:00" data-sanitized-class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden">Tue, 05/13/2025 - 21:45</span>

link:
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/trump-administration-targets-journals-proximal-origin-paper-which-dismissed-possible


guid: 68238072af3e1a0001a4dae1
title: Witkoff Stressed Dialogue with Russia in Breitbart Interview
author: ;Carl Osgood
link: https://eir.news/2025/05/news/witkoff-stressed-dialogue-with-russia-in-breitbart-interview/
hash: z���P�)��:�5R{�m
tags: #New World Paradigm #U.S. and Canada #News
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
content:
<p>Yesterday Breitbart News published <a href="https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2025/05/12/exclusive-white-houses-witkoff-possible-zelensky-putin-peace-summit-hope-so/">its second report</a> on an interview with Presidential envoy Steve Witkoff recorded on May 8 at the White House, focusing this time on Trump’s intentions towards Ukraine and Russia. Much of what Witkoff said then, appears to have been playing out in the days since. Of note is that Witkoff said that he hopes a peace summit at which Ukrainian acting president Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin meet in person to negotiate the end of the war in Ukraine, comes soon.</p>
<p>“I think it’s entirely possible,” Witkoff said of a Zelenskyy-Putin peace summit possibility. “I think if the U.S. pulls back from this conflict, in other words doesn’t want to be involved with it and says it’s not my war and I’ve tried to do my best, I think that’s a bad result for everybody. ... I think the Russians actually do want a peaceful settlement, and both sides are trying to figure out what that means for them. Our job is to put them in a room together and show them that the alternatives to a peaceful resolution here are bad for everybody. That’s our job.”</p>
<p>“The President has said, and we believe in what he has said, it’s a stupid war. It didn’t need to happen. …” Witkoff further told Breitbart News: “So, I think that we have to put everybody in a room. Solutions work when there are direct talks. We need to get the Ukrainians and the Russians at the same table. ... We have to get everybody thinking that the responsible way to address this is a diplomatic solution. If that’s what you want, if you, Russia, want that, if you believe in the upsides for your society in ending this war, and you, Ukraine, want it too, we need to get you physically into a room. And I’ve offered to go spend as much time as they want and mediate that. What we’re suggesting is direct talks between the two parties sooner rather than later.”</p>
<p>Witkoff noted that Trump has “issued an ultimatum” to the two parties that they need to make progress on a lasting peace, otherwise the U.S. is walking away. Major remaining issues to be hammered out include details over the territory in Ukraine, a key nuclear power plant that is currently offline, and Ukrainian access to important waterways.</p>
<p>Witkoff also particularly stressed that there’s no peace agreement without involving Putin: “There is no deal without President Putin’s sign-off. He is the leader of the Russian Federation, so the notion of not talking to President Putin is somehow something people are against, I don’t understand that logic. We need to talk to everybody. Any stakeholders in this conflict, we have to have a conversation with them—and we can’t accept another person’s version of what they think. We have to hear it for ourselves. That’s how you get to a solution. You put yourself in their shoes, you understand what they need, and how can we accommodate that? Can we effect those sorts of compromises? That happens from knowing the other person. Those are the assessments that the president has asked people like me to make on his behalf, because he has to be the ultimate decision-maker.”</p>


guid: 68238091af3e1a0001a4daec
title: B-52s to Diego Garcia?
author: ;Carl Osgood
link: https://eir.news/2025/05/news/b-52s-to-diego-garcia/
hash: t]�8�r� q4 �YuQ
tags: #Strategic War Danger #U.S. and Canada #News
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
content:
<p><a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/us-military-replaces-b-2-bombers-that-were-sent-amid-middle-east-tensions-2025-05-12/">Reuters reported</a> yesterday afternoon that the half-dozen B-2 stealth bombers that had been deployed to Diego Garcia in the middle of the Indian Ocean, are being replaced “with another type of bomber.” The stealth bombers had been sent to Diego Garcia, a joint U.S.-U.K. military base, as part of a massive escalation in tensions with Iran in March. Their withdrawal, therefore, marks a significant deescalation. Unnamed officials said the B-2 bombers were being replaced by B-52 bombers. The Pentagon refused to comment.</p>
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guid: 6823812baf3e1a0001a4daf8
title: New York Times Reveals, Trump Stopped Yemen Bombing Campaign Because It Was Failing
author: ;Carl Osgood
link: https://eir.news/2025/05/news/nyt-trump-stopped-yemen-bombing-campaign-because-it-was-failing/
hash: ���q����8k;��$�
tags: #Collapsing Imperial System #U.S. and Canada #News
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
content:
<p>Yesterday, the <em>New York Times</em> posted a story with the headline: “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/12/us/politics/trump-houthis-bombing.html">Why Trump Suddenly Declared Victory Over the Houthi Militia</a>.” The answer, as reported by the <em>Times</em>, is quite simple. The campaign, despite the weight of applied military power being orders of magnitude greater than what the Houthis had available to them, was failing. That dovetailed with Trump’s lack of toleration for lengthy campaigns that weren’t generating results. “The United States had not even established air superiority over the Houthis,” the <em>Times</em> said. “Instead, what was emerging after 30 days of a stepped-up campaign against the Yemeni group was another expensive but inconclusive American military engagement in the region.” The costs included two F-18 Super Hornet jet fighters that rolled off the deck of the aircraft carrier <em>USS Harry S. Truman</em>—one while being towed as the ship was engaging in evasive maneuvers to avoid a Houthi missile, and the other about 10 days later when it failed to catch the arrester cable on landing—at least 7 MQ-9 Reaper drones shot down by the Houthis (out of 22 shot down since October 2023), and about a billion dollars’ worth of very expensive, precision-guided weapons.</p>
<p>After 30 days of that, President Donald Trump “had had enough.” So, Omani officials, through Presidential envoy Steve Witkoff, offered the “perfect off ramp” for Trump. “The United States would halt the bombing campaign and the militia would no longer target American ships in the Red Sea, but without any agreement to stop disrupting shipping that the group deemed helpful to Israel.”</p>
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guid: 68238164af3e1a0001a4db04
title: Gaza Heading into Famine Conditions
author: ;Carl Osgood
link: https://eir.news/2025/05/news/gaza-heading-into-famine-conditions/
hash: Qج��h�-T�A&� f
tags: #Collapsing Imperial System #Southwest Asia #News
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
content:
<p>The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), <a href="https://apnews.com/article/gaza-famine-war-israel-1360c6d16902c163234b0eb1e96e694b">that AP described</a> as a leading international authority on the severity of hunger crises, <a href="https://reliefweb.int/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/gaza-strip-ipc-acute-food-insecurity-and-acute-malnutrition-special-snapshot-april-september-2025-published-12-may-2025">issued a report</a> yesterday warning that “there is a high risk” of outright famine in Gaza if circumstances don’t change. “Nineteen months into the conflict, the Gaza Strip is still confronted with a critical risk of famine,” the IPC report says at the outset. “Over 60 days have passed since all humanitarian aid and commercial supplies were blocked from entering the territory. Goods indispensable for people’s survival are either depleted or expected to run out in the coming weeks. The entire population is facing high levels of acute food insecurity, with half a million people (one in five) facing starvation.</p>
<p>“From 11 May to the end of September 2025, the whole territory is classified in Emergency (IPC Phase 4), with the entire population expected to face Crisis or worse acute food insecurity (IPC Phase 3 or above),” it continues, adding that 22% of the population is already in the catastrophic Phase 5. That is significantly worse than the previous IPC analysis released in October 2024, “and the already dire conditions detected between 1 April-10 May 2025.”</p>
<p>The lack of a famine declaration doesn’t mean people aren’t already starving, and a declaration shouldn’t be a precondition for ending the suffering, said Chris Newton, an analyst for the International Crisis Group focusing on starvation as a weapon of war. He told AP, “The Israeli government is starving Gaza as part of its attempt to destroy Hamas and transform the Strip.”</p>
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guid: 682384b7af3e1a0001a4db10
title: U.S. and Israel Unveil Dangerous New &amp;#039;Aid Distribution Plan&amp;#039;
author: ;Richard Freeman
link: https://eir.news/2025/05/news/us-and-israel-unveil-dangerous-new-aid-distribution-plan/
hash: }���<*� � i|*�
tags: #Collapsing Imperial System #News
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
content:
<p>Israel and the United States have written a 14-page plan to provide “food,” and some medical and sanitary means to the Palestinian people of Gaza. Their proposal emerges as Benjamin Netanyahu has blocked food, fuel, medicine, and other vital supplies from entering Gaza for 78 days, which has led to starvation, emaciation, and death.</p>
<p>An examination of the plan, based on excerpts provided by the Associated Press, National Public Radio, and BBC, indicates that it will militarize food delivery, limit the amount of food delivered, and cause great degradation on top of the genocide that it has inflicted. It will dismantle the existing and well-functioning UN and UNRWA system that exists to provide food and supplies.</p>
<p>The pretext for the plan is that it will prevent Hamas from stealing food. Under the 14-page plan, a private charity, named the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which was just registered in Switzerland in February, will run the food and other distribution, in coordination with a group of private contractors. Some of the plan’s proposals include:</p>
<p>First, the plan will reduce the number of food distribution sites from the current 400 to just 4, which will be located in the south of the country. Israeli military troops will surround the new distribution centers.</p>
<p>Second, to reach the new distribution centers, many Palestinians will have to move to southern Gaza, leaving their homes in the north, likely on a permanent basis, exactly what the Israelis, Christian Zionists, and their London sponsors have sought.</p>
<p>Third, Israeli media reported that Israeli forces were already setting up distribution hubs in Rafah, in southern Gaza. BBC reported on May 9, “According to reports, Israel expects that aid will be distributed to security-screened representatives from each Gaza family who would be allowed to take supplies for his or her relatives only. They would be allowed into the hubs only on foot.” This is likely the model for the 14-page plan.</p>
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guid: 68239cbeaf3e1a0001a4db2b
title: More Forced To Admit That Israel Is Committing Genocide in Gaza
author: ;Stewart Battle
link: https://eir.news/2025/05/news/more-forced-to-admit-that-israel-is-committing-genocide-in-gaza/
hash: c��No��zΤ��
tags: #Collapsing Imperial System #Europe #News
content:
<div><img src="https://eir.news/content/images/size/w1200/2025/05/Screen-Shot-2025-05-13-at-9.40.39-PM.jpg" data-sanitized-class="ff-og-image-inserted"></div><p>The atrocities that Israel is forcing on the population of Gaza are becoming too much to bear, even for the polished class in Europe. The former top EU diplomat Josep Borrell has become one of the latest to speak out, going beyond mere criticisms of Israel and labelling the actions against Palestine a “genocide.” During a May 9 speech in Spain, Borrell accused Israel of “carrying out the largest ethnic-cleansing operation since the end of the Second World War,” <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/may/09/israel-committing-genocide-in-gaza-says-eus-former-top-diplomat">according to <em>The Guardian</em></a>. “Three times more explosive power has been dropped on Gaza than was used in the Hiroshima bomb,” he said. “And for months now, nothing has been getting into Gaza. Nothing: no water, no food, no electricity, no fuel, no medical services.”</p>
<p>Borrell then said: “We all know what’s going on there, and we’ve all heard the objectives stated by Netanyahu’s ministers, which are clear declarations of genocidal intent. Seldom have I heard the leader of a state so clearly outline a plan that fits the legal definition of genocide.”</p>
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guid: 6823a0f3af3e1a0001a4db3d
title: Netanyahu Brags, ‘Israel Is Destroying More and More Houses’ in Gaza
author: ;Richard Freeman
link: https://eir.news/2025/05/news/netanyahu-brags-israel-is-destroying-more-and-more-houses-in-gaza/
hash: �'!��c���請�IB
tags: #Strategic War Danger #News
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
content:
<p>Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared during closed-door testimony before the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on May 11, that “Israel is destroying more and more houses [in Gaza, and accordingly, Palestinians] have nowhere to return,” according to leaks leaked to the media, reports the <em>Times of Israel</em> on May13. “The only obvious result will be Gazans choosing to emigrate outside the [Gaza] Strip,” said Netayahu.</p>
<p>To those who accuse Netanyahu of committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, with the major aim of driving them out of their country, in order for Israel to occupy it, Netanyahu confirmed that charge.</p>
<p>Netanyahu noted, “But our main problem is finding countries to take [the Palestinians] in.”</p>
<p>That is the thinking that coheres with the decision of Netanyahu’s security cabinet, which approved a plan on May 5 to “conquer Gaza.” IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir told the meeting that the Security Cabinet plan provides for “conquering Gaza and holding the territories.” Netanyahu told an earlier Defense Committee meeting that Israel will be able to occupy 30% of “Judea and Samaria,” as it calls the West Bank, in the future.</p>
<p>This is, as well, a context for the issuance of the recent 14-page plan (see accompanying slug) that will bypass the UN and the UNRWA, and would institute a private firm, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, to ostensibly provide food, medical and other aid to Palestinians in Gaza. One of the features of that plan would be to cause Palestinians to obtain food and medical provision only in the south of Gaza, which would force them to move south and leave their housing in the north of the Gaza Strip, likely on a permanent basis. Netanyahu and his associates could conquer any land abandoned by the Palestinians.</p>


guid: 6823ccd6af3e1a0001a4dc37
title: Tony Blair Becomes Advisor to Steve Witkoff, a Threat To World Peace
author: ;Richard Freeman
link: https://eir.news/2025/05/news/tony-blair-becomes-adviser-to-steve-witkoff-a-threat-to-world-peace/
hash: �x�6�� ��ߘj��
tags: #Strategic War Danger #News
content:
<div><img src="https://eir.news/content/images/2025/05/49018995358_759bd6da51_c.jpg" data-sanitized-class="ff-og-image-inserted"></div><p>In a May 11 article, “<a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/politics/2025/05/11/tony-blair-joins-trump-envoy-on-gaza-deal/">Tony Blair Joins Trump Envoy on Gaza Deal</a>,” <em>The Telegraph</em> reported that Sir Tony Blair, British Prime Minister from 1997-2007, who has repeatedly plunged the world into crisis and war, and denounced the Westphalian foundations of Western civilization, has coaxed his way onto the staff of President Trump’s Special Envoy Steve Witkoff.</p>
<p><em>The Telegraph</em> reports: “Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy has turned to Tony Blair—someone who knows better than anyone how the region can upend political careers and tarnish legacies—for advice.</p>
<p>“Steve Witkoff, a property developer and friend of Mr. Trump’s, has taken the former prime minister on as part of his network of advisers, according to two sources. It comes after the U.S. President expressed frustration at trying to end the war in Gaza.</p>
<p>“‘Mr. Blair is an obvious choice,’ said a Western diplomatic source. ‘He is a natural mediator and talks to both sides.’”</p>
<p><em>EIR</em> is investigating how Blair became a Witkoff advisor.</p>
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guid: 6823e055af3e1a0001a4dc58
title: ‘Russia-Islamic World: KazanForum’ Convenes in Tatarstan Republic
author: ;Richard Freeman
hash: I9���#�����JN>+
tags: #New World Paradigm #News
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
content:
<p><a href="http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/76903">Russian President Vladimir Putin delivered greetings</a> to the 16th International Economic Forum “Russia-Islamic World Kazan Forum,” the largest Russian-Islamic event that is held each year. It will take place over May 13-18 in Kazan, Tatarstan Republic, about 55% of whose population is Muslim. Last year, more than 20,000 people attended from 87 countries.</p>
<p>Putin said in his remarks: “For centuries, our multinational country has maintained open and extensive ties with countries of the Islamic world. Today, even amid a challenging global landscape, we continue to steadily and successfully expand our economic, scientific, educational, humanitarian, and interregional cooperation. Notably, Tatarstan stands out as one of the most active regions of the Russian Federation in fostering these productive and constructive relationships.</p>
<p>“Throughout the forum, you will explore opportunities to further strengthen our cooperation across a wide range of fields, including technological development. A key focus will be the collaborative effort to build a digital financial system, which will be addressed in a dedicated meeting of the Russia-Islamic World Strategic Vision Group, with the participation of representatives from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.”</p>
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guid: 6823e27baf3e1a0001a4dc65
title: China-Brazil Friendship &amp;#039;Has Never Been Better&amp;#039;
author: ;Gretchen Small
link: https://eir.news/2025/05/news/brazil-china-friendship-has-never-been-better/
hash: INX����& +?XeMp
tags: #New World Paradigm #Ibero-America and Caribbean #News
content:
<div><img src="https://eir.news/content/images/size/w1200/2025/05/Screen-Shot-2025-05-13-at-9.11.03-PM.jpg" data-sanitized-class="ff-og-image-inserted"></div><p>Over the course of May 12 and 13, Presidents Xi Jinping (China) and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (Brazil) dined privately at Xi’s residence in Beijing; addressed the Fourth China-CELAC (Community of Latin American and Caribbean Nations) Ministerial Meeting; presided over the signing of at least 20 bilateral agreements between their nations; made short statements at a joint press conference; and issued two joint statements, one on strengthening the China-Brazil community with a shared future, the other expressing their support for direct dialogue between Russia and Ukraine and their commitment to continue their international coordination of efforts to help bring about a peaceful resolution to that conflict.</p>
<p>When they addressed the press, President Xi stated that Chinese-Brazilian friendship has “a very solid foundation”; that being, that the two leaders and nations “are going to remain faithful to our initial aspiration to assume responsibility for human progress and global development.”</p>
<p>President Lula agreed that relations between the two nations have never been so close—or so necessary, as he added. “The Community for a Shared Future for a More Just World and a More Sustainable Planet, which we established last November, is an alternative to ideological rivalries…. China and Brazil are determined to unite our voices against unilateralism and protectionism” in the fragmented and unpredictable world of today. We will meet again at the BRICS summit in July in Brazil, he noted. “The BRICS will increasingly become a fundamental space for coordination between the Global South, and the construction of a fairer and more effective multipolar order.”</p>
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guid: 6823e5d1af3e1a0001a4dc77
title: Gaza and the Tipping Point of History
author: ;Stewart Battle
link: https://eir.news/2025/05/news/gaza-and-the-tipping-point-of-history/
hash: @ ���9>`�+x�m�޴
tags: #Daily Lead
content:
<div><img src="https://eir.news/content/images/2025/05/Gaza_war_2023_-_2025_IMG_8182-1.png" data-sanitized-class="ff-og-image-inserted"></div><p>Reports over the recent days have made it unmistakably clear that the “international community” has failed the people of Gaza. Not only have they suffered 19 months of indiscriminate bombing, forced relocation, and a lack of even the most basic human needs; now, after 70 days of Israel’s complete blockade, they are facing a full-blown famine. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification issued a report May 12 which found that the entirety of Gaza had now reached a Phase 4 “Emergency” level of food crisis, while 22% of the population is already at the highest—Phase 5. Even Josep Borrell, the EU’s notorious former top diplomat, had to come out and say: “Seldom have I heard the leader of a state [Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu] so clearly outline a plan that fits the legal definition of genocide.” He added, “This is the largest ethnic-cleansing operation since the end of the Second World War.”</p>
<p>Alleged efforts on the part of the U.S. and a new humanitarian aid agency, the “Gaza Humanitarian Foundation,” is suspect at minimum and disastrous at most. Former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair is reported to be playing a major role in its design and functioning—a situation that must be watched with caution.</p>
<p>A string of editorial statements by leading Western news outlets in the recent weeks, warning about the full-blown genocide in Gaza after a year-and-a-half of near-silence, provoked <a href="https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/multiple-western-press-outlets-have?utm_campaign=post&amp;utm_medium=web">Caitlin Johnstone</a> to write that many are “smelling what’s in the wind…. Something is changing.”</p>
<p>However, there must be a caveat. This moral and political failure was not so much that of the “international community,” but rather that of the “rules-based order,” which precipitated and excused this atrocity to unfold before the world—even though many who are now speaking out won’t want to acknowledge it. This must be stated, because it is this same “rules-based order” which is responsible for the deaths of many hundreds of thousands more in the fields of Ukraine—another unnecessary conflict sustained by the intentionally false narrative of “defending democracy.” While four foolish and unpopular European leaders gathered in Kiev last weekend to preach to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Mr. Putin himself was hosting 29 heads of state in Moscow for an actually serious occasion—the 80th anniversary of the defeat of fascism in Europe. The world now awaits the results of the May 15 peace talks in Istanbul between Ukraine and Russia, despite the efforts of those failed European leaders to disrupt them.</p>
<p>And it is the true nature of this same “rules-based order” which helped spur on the enormously successful May 13 summits in Beijing, which rejected not only the political and military failures of the post-Bretton Woods order, but the economic as well. Following on the heels of the May 9th celebration in Moscow, with many heads of state in attendance, the China-CELAC (Community of Latin American and Caribbean States) convened in China, to define a path of development that had previously been disallowed. Defending China’s method of investing in large-scale infrastructure and industrial development, Brazil’s President Lula emphasized: “We don’t need export vectors, but development routes.”</p>
<p>President Trump’s flashy visit to Saudi Arabia may, in fact, redefine certain processes within Southwest Asia, not the least of which may be putting a check on Israel’s brazen destructiveness. However, his visit is itself a reflection of this larger process, and will never be able to replace it. As Xi Jinping expressed the much higher and more truthful vantage point for the relationship between China and Brazil during his bilateral summit with Lula: “We are going to remain faithful to our initial aspiration to assume responsibility for human progress and global development.”</p>
<p>So, it is now beyond urgent that the genocide in Gaza be halted, that a sovereign State of Palestine be established, and that Gaza be rebuilt. But humanity must ask: How should the Palestinians secure justice? How can this horror be made right? History will certainly look back, and judge those who have allowed it to unfold—including those who willfully looked away. Yet, the sweetest justice comes from the future. The creation of a new security and development architecture, with a view for at least the coming 500 years of a developing and prosperous mankind, provides the only adequate basis to correct a genocide—and for a dignified future for the region.</p>
<p>The upcoming June 2-4 UN summit on Palestine in New York is an initial opportunity to do this. The <a href="https://laroucheorganization.com/article/2024/02/10/oasis-plan-larouches-solution-middle-east">LaRouche Oasis Plan for Southwest Asia</a> and Helga Zepp-LaRouche’s <a href="https://schillerinstitute.com/blog/2022/11/30/ten-principles-of-a-new-international-security-and-development-architecture/">Ten Principles</a> are the required ingredients to transform this uncertain moment in history into a new era for the world.</p>

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guid: 6823eaa9af3e1a0001a4dc88
title: Haaretz Insists, ‘Israel Must Grab the Lifeline Thrown by Trump and End the War’
author: ;Stewart Battle
hash: "��K?JF6���O�
tags: #Strategic War Danger #Southwest Asia #News
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
content:
<p>The release of the American-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander has provided a powerful contrast between the modest efforts by U.S. President Donald Trump to negotiate with Hamas, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s insistence on war. Israeli newspaper <em>Haaretz</em>’s lead editorial for May 13 called Trump’s efforts to end the war and return the hostages, “a final call for Israel to stop its planned Operation Gideon’s Chariots in the Gaza Strip before those chariots set out on a road that will lead it to disaster.” They add: “Trump’s moves have exposed the nakedness of Israel’s government.”</p>
<p>The freeing of Alexander “happened solely thanks to Trump’s intervention, and contrary to the position of the Netanyahu government,” the editorial continues. It’s obvious that “foreign governments have been more committed to freeing the Israeli hostages than its own government.”</p>
<p>They further write: “Trump intends to end the war, bring all the hostages home, send humanitarian aid into Gaza and, down the road, promote a tectonic shift in the Middle East with a Saudi Arabia deal at the heart of it. Nobody can know whether he will achieve these goals. But any sane country led by a government that desires life … would wish him success and do anything he asked it to enable progress in this direction.” In contrast, the editorial adds, Netanyahu is counting on negotiations with Hamas to fail so that he can continue his scheme to fully occupy Gaza and expel its population.</p>
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guid: 6823f339af3e1a0001a4dccf
title: Trump Arrives in Saudi Arabia, Signs Major Agreements
author: ;Stewart Battle
link: https://eir.news/2025/05/news/trump-arrives-in-saudi-arabia-signs-major-agreements/
hash: S��m���F`����'��
tags: #U.S. and Canada #News
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
content:
<p>U.S. President Donald Trump kicked off the first foreign trip of his second term on May 13 with a state visit to Saudi Arabia. He and Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman signed a strategic economic agreement which included Saudi investments of $600 billion into the United States. Crown Prince Mohammad pledged that a second phase of the deal would be completed in the coming months that could “raise it to $1 trillion.” The agreements included the largest-ever defense agreement between the two countries, totaling $142 billion.</p>
<p>During his remarks in Riyadh on May 13, Trump emphasized the importance of strengthening the U.S.-Saudi relationship, and said he hopes that Saudi Arabia will join the Abraham Accords. “But you’ll do it in your own time,” Trump said, indicating his understanding that Saudi Arabia has insisted it will not diplomatically recognize Israel and join the Abraham Accords until a two-state solution with Palestine is reached.</p>
<p>Trump said that the Middle East is where “[a] new generation of leaders is transcending the ancient conflicts of tired divisions of the past.” The Middle East should be “defined by commerce, not chaos, where it exports technology, not terrorism, and where people of different nations, religions and creeds are building cities together, not bombing each other out of existence,” he said.</p>
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guid: 6823f4c6af3e1a0001a4dcda
title: Trump Announces That U.S. Will Lift Sanctions on Syria
author: ;Stewart Battle
link: https://eir.news/2025/05/news/trump-announces-u-s-will-lift-sanctions-on-syria/
hash: �/��ꝡm��`kθY
tags: #U.S. and Canada #News
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
content:
<p>One surprise announcement that President Trump made during his May 13 visit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, was that the <a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/1922327334863946039">U.S. would be lifting sanctions against Syria</a>. “After discussing the situation in Syria with the Crown Prince, your Crown Prince [applause], and also with President Erdogan of Türkiye, who called me the other day and asked for a very similar thing. … I will be ordering the cessation of sanctions against Syria in order to give them a chance at greatness,” Trump told the Saudi-U.S. Investment Forum 2025. The President announced that Secretary of State Marco Rubio will be meeting with the new Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shaibani in Türkiye later this week to further discuss their relations.</p>
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guid: 6823f7276660b20001283d7c
title: U.S. Tests Sixth and Final Superconducting Magnet for ITER Tokamak Fusion Reactor
author: ;Richard Freeman
hash: W�.� �=�h�0 ��
tags: #Science and Technology #News
attributes: {"enclosures":[]}
content:
<p>The manufacture and demanding testing of the sixth and final 110-ton superconducting magnet for the ITER tokamak fusion machine’s 60-foot-tall (18.3-meter) central solenoid was completed on May 7 at the General Atomics Magnet Technologies Center in Poway, California.</p>
<p>This sixth production module is the last module needed to complete the central solenoid stack of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER). Four central solenoid modules have already been delivered by U.S. ITER, and stacked on a dedicated assembly platform at the ITER construction site in Cadarache, France. The fifth module is on its way, and the sixth will be shipped in the coming months (a seventh module will be fabricated as a back-up). The U.S. is also delivering an “exoskeleton” support structure that will enable the central solenoid to withstand the extreme forces it will generate.</p>
<p>The central solenoid is the heart of the ITER tokamak and serves as a critical element in the ITER magnet system. The central solenoid induces the majority of the magnetic flux change needed to initiate the plasma, generate the plasma current, and maintain this current during the burn time. Another term for central solenoid would be cylindrical electromagnet.</p>
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guid: https://ici.radio-canada.ca/sports/2164973/adam-van-koeverden-secretaire-etat-sport
title: Chronique | Adam van Koeverden aux Sports : une bonne nouvelle qui en cache une moins bonne
link: https://ici.radio-canada.ca/sports/2164973/adam-van-koeverden-secretaire-etat-sport
hash: �.��L���'-� �
content:
<p>Il n’existe toujours pas de véritable ministre des Sports au Canada, déplore Dominick Gauthier.</p>

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guid: https://karlof1.substack.com/p/putin-delovaya-rossiya-business-russia
title: Putin, Delovaya Rossiya (Business Russia) &amp; Russian Governments Converse
author: ;Karl Sanchez
link: https://karlof1.substack.com/p/putin-delovaya-rossiya-business-russia
hash: �<��{\�s�q��N^�{
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<p></p><div data-sanitized-class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8906bfa2-c659-45f9-b2ee-3d097183f7fe_1880x1160.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" data-sanitized-class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img"><div data-sanitized-class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8906bfa2-c659-45f9-b2ee-3d097183f7fe_1880x1160.jpeg" width="1456" height="898" data-attrs='{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/8906bfa2-c659-45f9-b2ee-3d097183f7fe_1880x1160.jpeg","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":898,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":null,"alt":"Meeting with members of the All-Russian Public Organization ","title":null,"type":null,"href":null,"belowTheFold":false,"topImage":true,"internalRedirect":null,"isProcessing":false,"align":null}' alt="Meeting with members of the All-Russian Public Organization " title="Meeting with members of the All-Russian Public Organization " fetchpriority="high" data-sanitized-class="sizing-normal"></picture><div data-sanitized-class="image-link-expand"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container restack-image"><path d="M3 12a9 9 0 0 1 9-9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1 6.74 2.74L21 8"></path><path d="M21 3v5h-5"></path><path d="M21 12a9 9 0 0 1-9 9 9.75 9.75 0 0 1-6.74-2.74L3 16"></path><path d="M8 16H3v5"></path></div><div data-sanitized-class="pencraft pc-reset icon-container view-image"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></div></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>A very important distinction is made at the outset of <a href="http://kremlin.ru/events/president/news/76914">this meeting</a> that involves not just these key business representatives, but national and regional government members linked by video. Here within the Outlaw US Empire and the West generally the Class War is being escalated via various manifestations whereas the exact opposite is happening within Russia. The following is an excerpt from Putin’s opening words:</p><blockquote><p><em><strong>It is very important that you, the vast majority of your colleagues, and all of us understand that professional labor collectives stand behind you. It is all together, together with them—with employees, with labor collectives–-as I have already said, and I want to emphasize this again—as one team, that you–-I want to say here—write both the success story of your business and the success story of the Russian economy. </strong></em>[My Emphasis]</p></blockquote><p>Mr. Putin’s words were further emphasized by the Chairman of Delovaya Rossiya Alexey Repik:</p><blockquote><p><strong>Alexey Repik</strong>: Yes, Mr President,<em><strong> I know how important this is for our teams, how much we support each of our guys, and we expect them to come back to work, because our teams are waiting for them.</strong></em></p><p>But the most important thing is that, despite the fact <em><strong>that some of our guys are now engaged in the defense of our Homeland</strong></em>, we still have everything in order with the rear. [My Emphasis]</p></blockquote><p>Who are those “50-60 thousand” who come every month voluntarily to enlist in Russia’s military? Many “come by themselves, including <em><strong>from your labor collectives:”</strong></em> It’s the Russian working man who is doing the fighting and dying to preserve Russia. The labor collectives are what really make Russian business and agriculture work. An extremely small number of nations honor their workers and soldiers as Russia does, and most certainly not anywhere in the Western world where they exist to be exploited and feed the rich. One might say such recognition is a Soviet Era leftover. However, I would say that’s the only right and proper way to run a nation that’s supposed to be a collective of peoples, not a jumbled mass of Classes ruled by oligarchs. The inclusion of labor into Russia’s societal formula is the significant point needing to be made over and over because it’s so different and the aim of Russophobic Media is to erase that very significant difference and model to others. The Meeting:</p><blockquote><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> Good afternoon!</p><p>The head of Delovaya Rossiya [Alexey Repik] and I <a href="https://translated.turbopages.org/proxy_u/ru-en.en.a9c12714-682385b2-81a79d28-74722d776562/www.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/76850">discussed</a> how your work is going. Delovaya Rossiya is one of our leading public organizations that unites both owners and managers of manufacturing, industrial, service, and high-tech businesses in the country.</p><p>Your companies are actively strengthening their positions in the domestic market, building cooperative ties with Russian and foreign partners, and, of course, developing promising export destinations.</p><p>I would like to note that it is largely thanks to the efforts of business and the energy of entrepreneurial labor that the Russian economy is showing stability and developing. So, despite all the difficulties, despite the so-called external pressure, we still achieved significant growth in the year before last–-in general, significant growth both for our country and for the world economy: in the year before last, GDP grew by 4.1 percent, and last year–-4.3. We thought it was 4.1 percent, but after an additional calculation, it turned out to be [4.3 percent]. Those two-tenths of a percent also matter.</p><p><em><strong>This is, indeed, the result of joint, partnership work of the state, business and labor collectives. A kind of fusion of entrepreneurial freedom, initiative, and skills of workers, engineers, and specialists in various fields. I hope that both the Government and our regional teams have made a certain contribution here. All together, this is the result of a common work.</strong></em></p><p><em><strong>It is very important that you, the vast majority of your colleagues, and all of us understand that professional labor collectives stand behind you. It is all together, together with them—with employees, with labor collectives–-as I have already said, and I want to emphasize this again—as one team, that you–-I want to say here—write both the success story of your business and the success story of the Russian economy.</strong></em></p><p>A significant mission of Delovaya Rossiya is to identify barriers that hinder the dynamic growth of the domestic economy, and therefore the entire country in all areas that are important for the state. <em><strong>And at the same time, it is not only necessary to talk about problems, but it is also necessary to offer concrete solutions based on the daily practical experience of companies, on deep expert and legal analysis.</strong></em></p><p>As a matter of fact, this is what always happens when Alexey Yevgenyevich [Repik] was there, he already touched on certain things, certain problems. Of course, you are here to discuss all this, to bring it to the attention of government agencies. <em><strong>Now we have many of my colleagues from various ministries, departments, and government officials in touch online–-and I hope that I will turn the arrow to them when I have any questions.</strong></em></p><p>As a matter of fact, this is true-–you work out solutions together with them. If something is missing–-this is what we are going to do, in order to clarify what is missing and what needs and can be done in order to move more efficiently further.</p><p>We are hosting a plenary session of the forum. <em><strong>The regions in the online system are also in touch with us. So there is an opportunity to socialize and talk. I would like to hear, of course, as I have already said, questions and suggestions, which is the most important thing</strong></em>.</p><p>Finally, in a month's time, in June, the St. Petersburg Economic Forum will be held. I hope that the proposals that we will discuss today, and you will formulate them, will also be in demand as part of the preparations for this large-scale event.</p><p>Please, let's get started.</p><p>A word to Alexey Yevgenyevich Repik. I ask you to.</p><p><strong><a href="https://translated.turbopages.org/proxy_u/ru-en.en.a9c12714-682385b2-81a79d28-74722d776562/kremlin.ru/catalog/persons/714/events">Alexey</a></strong>: Thank you very much, Vladimir Vladimirovich!</p><p>We have just a few days ago died down fireworks. Everyone celebrated the 80th anniversary of the Great Victory with bated breath. We honored veterans, thanked home front workers–-those who were able to mobilize during the most difficult time for the country, provided unprecedented support to the front, the work of factories, factories, transport infrastructure, schools, hospitals.</p><p>And now, when the neo-Nazis who raised their heads with the support, and often under the dictation of their curators, have crossed the boundaries of what is permissible, moved the hybrid war from the economic board to the battlefield, it seems to me that right now it is important to once again thank and express great gratitude on behalf of all Russian entrepreneurs to our defenders of the Fatherland, participants of the special military operation for their military work, heroism. This is very important for us.</p><p>Mr President, you can be absolutely sure: just like 80 years ago, the rear is secured.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> I'm sorry. You just spoke about defenders, about those who are engaged in military work. I must say, I want to point this out too, sorry, for God's sake, I won't interrupt any more, but this is very important–-<em><strong>after all, these are also people from your labor collectives.</strong></em></p><p>I want to draw your attention to this: if the Kiev authorities are engaged in forced mobilization--people are caught on the street like dogs, then our guys go voluntarily, they go themselves. We have a set, you know: they are currently catching 30 thousand people there, and <em><strong>we have 50-60 thousand people a month who come by themselves, including from your labor collectives.</strong></em> So thank you for remembering this.</p><p><strong>Alexey Repik</strong>: Yes, Mr President,<em><strong> I know how important this is for our teams, how much we support each of our guys, and we expect them to come back to work, because our teams are waiting for them.</strong></em></p><p>But the most important thing is that, <em><strong>despite the fact that some of our guys are now engaged in the defense of our Homeland, we still have everything in order with the rear. </strong></em>We also managed to mobilize, set up production, put everything we needed on the front line, while maintaining the possibility of a normal daily life. In other words, the teams got used to these endless sanctions "bombardments", of course, they missed strikes somewhere, stalled, but they learned to correct mistakes and adapt quickly. <em><strong>And now, in general, I am confident that the economic security circuit is reliably protected.</strong></em></p><p>Mr President, our meeting is taking place at a very special time. Around the upcoming possible negotiations, well-known comrades will again plot their machinations, intimidate us with the introduction of hundredth or five-hundredth packages of sanctions and frighten us with apocalypses. You can immediately say: it won't work. We did it in 2022, and we will do it now.</p><p>It is always very important at the key points of the story, but it is also easy to determine who is really who. Vysotsky had it like this:"If you idly watched down and did not fight with the scoundrel, with the executioner, then you had nothing to do with life." Here is what is important: "Delovaya Rossiya", <em><strong>the entrepreneurs of "Delovaya Rossiya" at the most critical moment did not get scared, did not vibrate, balancing both yours and ours, did not try to escape somewhere. We calmly and confidently stood up, as they say, to our full height and did our job, defending our right to sovereign development, our right to live as we see fit, and do what we do right on the labor front. I would like to confirm once again, Mr President, that you can rest assured that whatever the pressure, we have secured the economic security circuit.</strong></em></p><p>You mentioned that a number of topics for discussion were discussed during the preparations for the congress. More specific industry and regional issues and suggestions will be made today from our speakers, but there are two blocks that concern almost every one of us.</p><p>The first is monetary policy and maintaining investment activity.<em><strong> Here, of course, it is very important to remind everyone how critical it is not to miss the moment when efforts to combat inflation will start to give a sharp return and the economy will "fall" into hypothermia from overheating. We're just seeing the first signs of it.</strong></em> These are not only our unexpected May frosts, but also a number of serious indicators.</p><p>See: the producer price index, and in processing, including, not only in the energy sector, is falling, <em><strong>that is, prices are falling</strong></em>. Further, <em><strong>the corporate loan portfolio decreased by 40 billion rubles in the first four months. I want to remind you that last year it grew every month, adding a total of more than 14 trillion rubles. And inflation, by the way, almost stopped last week.</strong></em></p><p>I will focus on the second priority block–-these are the formats for returning foreign companies to our market.</p><p>In general, foreigners initially felt privileged in the new Russia. The largest multinational corporations since the early 1990s, entering the Russian market, felt at ease: they received the most convenient sites for construction, the best places in shopping centers, conducted massive advertising campaigns, when we heard the names of brands from every iron. Thus, in fact, loyalty to these brands was formed.</p><p>We agree: Of course, foreign investments brought a lot of benefits,<em><strong> but our growing domestic market returned these investments a hundredfold, these investments.</strong></em> And so, when in 2022 many foreign investors were forced to withdraw from the Russian market or sharply reduce their presence, <em><strong>the domestic business found a solution, and many of these solutions turned out to be no worse, and sometimes even better than the original ones.</strong></em></p><p>Vladimir Vladimirovich, no economy can develop normally and be self-sufficient. <em><strong>But the need to ensure technological sovereignty and readiness in a critical situation to close the most acute, significant elements of domestic consumption on their own</strong></em>—they are for Russia from a theoretical construction, the probability of which many were extremely skeptical--<em><strong>have become a reality</strong></em>. We really did everything in our power to deal with this situation. So now, when we hear more and more signals from our historical partners, who are also competitors, about working out a plan to return to the Russian market, fear of losing it forever, readiness to take a step forward–-t<em><strong>his is a step back, in fact–-it is necessary to form an objective and balanced position in relation to this process.</strong></em></p><p>The economy should not be shut down. Of course, we welcome companies from any country to enter our market, as well as any healthy competition. As well as, of course, we welcome foreign investment in Russian companies that have regained their home market. <em><strong>But as for foreign companies, it seems to us that it is inappropriate to row everyone under one comb.</strong></em> <em><strong>There are those who, despite the difficulties, pressure from their politicians, continued to work and invest with us, and they should be treated with reverence and care, as if they were our own.</strong></em> Others reduced their presence and left, but they did it with respect, without compromising consumers. Someone transferred the business to Russian investors, while retaining the opportunity to return. Here, the most correct format seems to us to be a return through the creation of joint ventures with Russian partners, while maintaining a certain shareholder control over the latter: either majority or through a "golden share".<em><strong> I believe that this format should become mandatory for enterprises in strategic industries.</strong></em></p><p><em><strong>Those companies that" hung the lock on the door", let down Russian contractors, did not fulfill their contractual and warranty obligations, must first compensate for the losses incurred by us, and if the damage was caused to consumers, citizens, then pay the corresponding compensation to the budget of the Russian Federation.</strong></em></p><p>If we talk about companies that allowed themselves to express anti-Russian rhetoric, supported the Armed Forces of Ukraine, publicly accused Russia, refused to deal with it, no one is waiting for them in our market. The Russian consumer remembers such things very well. <em><strong>In general, to start a dialogue about the return of such companies, it seems to me that they will first have to make a public apology.</strong></em></p><p>The time when we gave the" green light " to everything foreign to the detriment of ourselves has irrevocably passed. <em><strong>The internal investor should be an absolute priority for us. Where this is not the case, the situation needs to be corrected.</strong></em> For example, I still wonder why and whether it is fair that employees of our companies who went to work abroad for various reasons, regardless of their tax residence, were equalized at the personal income tax rate with employees in Russia in 2024. Let me remind you that earlier the "fork" was 17%.</p><p>In general, I believe that those who work, live at home, in Russia, make a much more significant contribution to our economy, spend money here, <em><strong>so they should be a priority</strong></em>. As in the case of investors, <em><strong>those who have fled should pay the price for their shortsightedness, and not receive preferences</strong></em>.</p><p>You mentioned that today, along with the speakers here in the Kremlin, we have more than 300 delegates of the congress on Delegatskaya Street in touch, as well as regional offices in all regions of the Russian Federation. Entrepreneurs of Delovaya Rossiya have a lot to say about the achievements and successes in recent years, as well as suggestions for implementing the tasks you set for structural transformation of the economy and increasing factor productivity. So, if you'll excuse me, I suggest we move on to the speeches.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> Yes, good.</p><p>If you'll excuse me, I'll also say a few words in order to comment on your speech.</p><p>You have raised an important issue. We encountered this somewhere at the turn of 2018-2019, when the agricultural sector in principle gained enough momentum for its development, and began, in fact, to cover all the basic needs of the Russian food market. And then the agricultural producers told me directly at the meetings: "Just don't let anyone back in." Because they will come with their huge subsidies: they all cheat in reality, all sign documents in the framework of the World Trade Organization (WTO), that this cannot be subsidized, this, and hidden subsidies go in huge quantities and create huge preferences, including in our market. First.</p><p>Second: places and shelves in stores. Our manufacturers will not be able to get through to the shelves from which the goods are sold out. What nonsense! How long have we talked about this? Even though the stake is on Teshi's head, nothing happens. Now, when Alexey [Repik] said that our entrepreneurs have managed to achieve a lot: and brands appear in hundreds and thousands of names, and so on and so on. And indeed, some things are better in quality than foreign manufacturers previously imagined in our market. But you know that better than anyone else. I went to the market, staked out everything, and then I couldn't kick you out. Do anything you want–-you can't break through in any way. Now they have foolishly banned their companies from working with us. But we see that people are coming to me, and big businesses are coming out, and they want to come back. For God's sake, please. But here it is very important, as Alexey [Repik] correctly said, first of all, we need to see who behaved like this. Furniture Manufacturers… In Belarus, they used to make good furniture. Well, God grant you good health. And we began to do it no worse, and maybe even better. And technologies appeared, and even the corresponding means of production appeared, and they began to make themselves.</p><p>Yes, this is a complex process. It is more complex, of course, and more diverse than in the field of agriculture, although even there everything is not so simple. By the way, the quality of our products and the requirements for agricultural products have always been higher than in the European Union, for example. But also in the field of industrial production.</p><p>Of course, you need to see who behaved like that. <em><strong>Someone was rude, saddened us, well, let them sit somewhere, God be with them.</strong></em></p><p>What do I want to pay attention to? Alexey [Repik] said: "We need them--someone transferred money to the APU--we need them to apologize." Uh, no! This is definitely not enough. <em><strong>They're about to be charged.</strong></em> Listen, I've been in contact with many people for decades, and I've met many business representatives in Europe and the United States… I respect them very much, they are very serious people, competent, pragmatic, they can count everything, they can achieve their goals. They are really powerful competitors.</p><p>If you say, "You'll apologize," they'll apologize tomorrow. If they need to go back to our market, whatever-–they'll come and kiss you on the mouth. This is not enough. We need to look at all these issues from a pragmatic point of view. Listen to me: is it profitable for us to have this or that company come? So we should let her in. You know, I'll put it simply, in the popular way: it's not profitable-–you need to find a thousand reasons why it should not be here, this or that company. And among these thousands of reasons, 999 will exactly meet the WTO requirements, I assure you. And we will argue in the courts for one for at least 15 years.</p><p><em><strong>I didn't come up with anything. You know, when someone left our market, violated our laws, violated WTO laws, we told them: "We will go to court." "Good riddance, for God's sake. We will sue you for 10, 15, 20 years." We were told this three years ago. That's what we should do with them. Nothing personal, just business.</strong></em></p><p>I asked the Government to work on this issue, to work out certain conditions of return. Of course, we must take into account the behavior of our partners in the previous three years. Of course, without this, too, it is impossible, it is necessary to treat as a human being. There were companies that didn't want to, but left with tears, honestly, but with tears: "The pressure is such that they will destroy our business overseas, they will not allow us to make payments, and they will cause damage in Europe." We all know them. I asked the Government to keep this in mind.</p><p>I would now like to ask Maxim G. Reshetnikov (this is still their diocese first of all) to comment on this issue: what the Government has prepared, <em><strong>and if something needs to be taken into account in terms of the interests of our business, first of all, we will focus on your interests, on the interests of our business.</strong></em> We will have to proceed from this.</p><p>Of course, we need to see how all this will be reflected in the market. If we really need something on the market, but there is still no way (or 20 years are still ahead) for us to reach certain parameters for the production of certain product groups, we need to orient ourselves accordingly, create joint ventures, as Alexey [Repik] suggested. We must be flexible and proceed solely from our national interests.</p><p>Maxim Gennadievich, please.</p><p><strong><a href="https://translated.turbopages.org/proxy_u/ru-en.en.a9c12714-682385b2-81a79d28-74722d776562/kremlin.ru/catalog/persons/504/events">Mikhail </a>:</strong> Mr President, thank you very much for giving me the floor.</p><p>In general, we agree with Delovaya Rossiya and Alexey Yevgenyevich on our approaches, and indeed we have discussed this many times. Of course, when they return, we will be interested not only in how the companies behaved–-we agree with the approaches--<em><strong>but also in how our business invested. Because if our business has occupied this niche, invested, then, of course, we must give it a period for these investments to pay off.</strong></em></p><p>Therefore, we will analyze the situation here, as they say, in each specific case, based on this balance of interests–-so that people who believe, and businesses who believe in the prospects, start investing in the domestic market, so that they get the necessary return on their invested capital, as they say.</p><p>However, there is a second point. We don't always have foreign companies… Let's just say that a number of companies have left and stopped supplying the products that we need here. <em><strong>This is especially the case with our pharmacists: a number of Western companies have left and simply those key medicines that we need on the market, stopped supplying.</strong></em></p><p>But we are also not sitting here waiting for the situation to normalize. We have introduced a special mechanism, and on your instructions, we have created the necessary government commission, which, in fact, forcibly issues licenses to our companies that are ready to produce the relevant products.</p><p>At the same time, we do not violate the rights of those companies in any way. Our companies will pay the necessary deductions at a very reasonable level to Western copyright holders. These deductions go to special accounts, where, accordingly, they accumulate, and then, when the situation is, let's say, comprehensively resolved, this money can be available to Western companies. <em><strong>But it is very important that now our companies are already producing the necessary medicines.</strong></em></p><p><em><strong>We are ready to apply the same approach to other types of products. My point is that we will not sit here and wait for Western companies to deign to provide our market with some key technologies, but we are ready to work actively here.</strong></em></p><p>In general, we work very closely with Delovaya Rossiya and Alexey Yevgenyevich in all these areas, and we really have common approaches.</p><p>Thank you.</p><p><strong>(To A. Repik.)</strong>Vladimir Putin: I have a couple more thoughts on your speech. You said that no economy in the world can be self-sufficient. <em><strong>This is true, but we still need to understand what self-sufficiency of the economy is in the modern world. We need to understand this.</strong></em></p><p>Second point. "We will not be intimidated by these new possible sanctions"–-we should not be intimidated. Anyone who starts to get scared will immediately lose everything. But it is absolutely necessary to understand what can happen, and we must be prepared for any actions of our possible future detractors.</p><p>They do many things to their own detriment. It seems that so-and-so will not be done exactly, because it harms them. But they do, you assholes—I'm sorry, please. <em><strong>And how? The world's leading economies are falling into recession just to hurt us. </strong></em>I'll buy tickets, but I won't go, as they say, to spite the conductor. What is it? So, of course, we should keep this in mind, because they can do what they say publicly.</p><p>And, of course, we must at least minimize the negative consequences for us. This is also the answer to the question of what a self–sufficient economy can be or cannot be. Everything is interconnected in the modern world, this is an obvious thing. But still, <em><strong>there are key points that make up one of the parameters of our economic independence and sovereignty. We must be prepared, of course, for anything.</strong></em></p><p>Now, perhaps, we will move on further.</p><p><strong>Alexey Repik:</strong> Mr President, you know, you are always very inspired when you realize that yo<em><strong>ur ideas are not only yours, but they are shared by your head of state, your leader. So, to be honest, it's easier for us now.</strong></em></p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> What I just said, you share, right?</p><p><strong>A. Repik:</strong> Yes.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> It's nice.</p><p><strong>Alexey Repik:</strong> We talked about investment activity today. I would like to ask Pavel Borisovich Titov, our distinguished winemaker and president of Delovaya Rossiya, to tell us what measures we need to support investment activity. We already have them, much has been done here by the Government, and the work is going well. But it seems to me that there are elements that require additional adjustment.</p><p>Pavel Borisovich.</p><p><strong>Pavel Titov:</strong> Thank you very much.</p><p>Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich,</p><p>In the context of tight monetary policy, high inflation, and an obvious shortage of equity capital, it is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain the dynamics of investment. We strive to create conditions for its sustainable growth, especially in industries with high added value.</p><p>We propose to adjust priorities in the application of existing state support tools. We are not talking about new volumes, but rather about a finer calibration with an emphasis on enterprises that implement investment projects using their own funds or market financing.</p><p>Today, a significant part of state support comes from loans with a subsidized interest rate. But we all understand that with the growth of lending, inflationary pressures are also increasing. <em><strong>Concessional loans often motivate investors to keep their own capital on high-yield deposits and keep it out of business.</strong></em></p><p>We believe that it is necessary to shift the focus towards non-credit support tools: <em><strong>these are tax mechanisms, including federal and regional investment deductions, grants, direct compensation for actual costs incurred under industry programs.</strong></em></p><p>Separately, we would like to draw your attention to the federal investment tax deduction introduced earlier this year. It aims to encourage businesses to invest in expansion and modernization through income tax adjustments. However, the mechanism needs to be adjusted further.</p><p>What do we mean by that? First of all, <em><strong>we consider it important to consider the possibility of simultaneous application of federal and regional investment deductions.</strong></em> At the moment, the Tax Code does not provide for this. Lifting the current restriction is especially important for regions with active investment policies. <em><strong>Federal support should not exclude regional support; on the contrary, their combination can become a serious link for new projects.</strong></em></p><p>It is also necessary to expand the industry coverage of the deduction, taking into account technological priorities and tasks of national projects. Now the deduction is not available for such industries as food production, medical services, transport and warehouse logistics and not only, <em><strong>and this is especially important for remote regions.</strong></em></p><p>Based on the results of the first half of 2025, we propose to assess the relevance and effectiveness of applying the FINV [Federal Investment Tax Deduction] and, if necessary, adjust its parameters. <em><strong>We believe that increasing the share of non-banking and tax mechanisms will reduce the pro-inflationary effect and motivate entrepreneurs to make optimal use of their own capital.</strong></em></p><p>If I may, from the general to the particular. I still represent Russian winemaking. You gave instructions for a pilot project for remote sales of Russian wine with the participation of Russian Post in 2021.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> So that the post office can still sell wine?</p><p><strong>P. Titov:</strong> There was such an initiative. We would like to resume work on it, because it would help a lot.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> To whom?</p><p><strong>Pavel Titov:</strong> First of all, for Russian winemakers, of course.</p><p>Thank you so much for your attention. And of course, we are waiting for you in Abrau-Durso, we have a lot of new things.</p><p>Thank you.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> Thank you. You would have rolled us something in honor of Victory Day.</p><p><strong>P. Titov:</strong> With pleasure.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> Pavel Borisovich, you have raised the most pressing issue today, and this is understandable. This applies not only to winemaking, but also to agriculture in general. But it was clear, as we have said many times before, that we would very much like the economy to develop at the pace we need and in compliance with macroeconomic indicators. This is understandable.</p><p><em><strong>And one of the main problems of today's Russian economy is high inflation</strong></em>. And this is a difficult task: we need to push down inflation and not create conditions–-as Alexey [Repik] just said in his speech—so as not to freeze the economy itself. It is necessary to implement a soft, small landing, which would allow for a situation in which the Central Bank would lower the key rate.</p><p>Today's main instruments are working, as you also mentioned: loans are subsidized. This means that the higher the interest rate and, accordingly, the higher the interest rate of not only the key one, but also of credit institutions, the higher the budget expenditures for this subsidy. This is understandable. And then the question arises: where is this border and what loans to subsidize? Naturally, in this case, the state should make a choice in favor of such projects that are vital for the country and for the economy. This is obvious.</p><p>Of course, first of all, these are large companies that depend on the stability of the entire economy–-we will not name them, so as not to relax them, because they will now hear: "Only to us". The other way, as you have just mentioned, is through grants or direct subsidies for the project. Not for these loans as a whole, but for the project. But in this case, the volume of these grants and loans will also be limited. This is an obvious thing.</p><p>We talked about this additional adjustment. Now I have asked Maxim Gennadyevich to speak out, as this is also his diocese in general. But in our Government, Alexander Valentinovich Novak deals with these issues through the Government leadership.</p><p>Alexander Valentinovich, I would like to ask you to comment on this issue as well.</p><p><strong><a href="https://translated.turbopages.org/proxy_u/ru-en.en.a9c12714-682385b2-81a79d28-74722d776562/kremlin.ru/catalog/persons/325/events">Alexander </a>:</strong> Mr Putin, good afternoon! Dear participants of the congress,</p><p>Indeed, today the most urgent task in the context of a tight monetary policy is to create conditions so that the volume of investment that we have achieved and its growth rates do not decrease but also fulfill your instructions in accordance with the Decree and Message: investment growth in 2030 by 60 percent.</p><p>Therefore, of course, the Government has developed measures, we have adopted a national project in accordance with your instructions "Efficient and competitive economy", a federal project specifically on investment and support measures, in which our colleagues actively participated in the development of the national project. We discussed all support measures together with Delovaya Rossiya.</p><p>We have reported to you about the subsidy mechanisms in cooperation with the Central Bank. In order to implement a joint policy aimed at reducing inflation, we also proposed to change the approaches and part of the subsidies that we used for lending to the provision of concessional loans.</p><p><em><strong>Today, it is proposed to redirect them, among other things, to grants with the condition of providing and participating in capital, in investments of companies at the expense of their own funds, with incentives, including entering into an IPO. These are the tools that should make it possible to raise additional funds, including at the expense of companies ' own funds.</strong></em></p><p>We understand that even this is quite difficult to do today, given the reduction in profitability at high interest rates and the reduction in profitability. However, since such tools were used less often in the past, we will encourage them and use them to a greater extent in order to ensure the achievement of the set indicators and create incentives.</p><p>It was mentioned about the investment tax deduction. Indeed, this is a new tool, the federal investment tax deduction, which was adopted starting from January 1, 2025. Previously, we had and still have an existing instrument related to investment support within the framework of regional investment tax deductions. And there is a new one, an additional one, which is still valid for several months.</p><p>We will receive the first results of its implementation sometime in June. Together with our colleagues from Delovaya Rossiya and our business partners, we will definitely analyze the results of how this tool works.</p><p>When we discussed it, Mr President, we chose exactly those seven areas of the main types of economic activity, which are primarily aimed at modernizing and developing high-tech industries, modernizing machinery and equipment. In accordance with this instrument, three percent of the total investment can be used to reduce the payment of income tax in terms of the federal component.</p><p>Taking into account the fact that there is also a regional investment tax deduction, this tool works together. We will see how these two tools can be combined in accordance with the proposals of Delovaya Rossiya in order to get the greatest effect for its implementation.</p><p>In general, we support these proposals. We will also look at the possible expansion of directions, if our individual activities are less effectively used based on the results of analysis and monitoring of this tool. Therefore, we will work closely together to make adjustments to improve the efficiency and create investment attractiveness of not only this instrument, but also in other areas as a whole.</p><p>We have a Capital Investment Rights Protection Agreement, a Project Finance Factory, concession agreements, and various other tools that have proven effective and that we are constantly improving with our business colleagues.</p><p>Thank you.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> The SPICs [special investment contracts] are the same, as well as zones with special tax regimes, administrative support, and so on, of course.</p><p>Thank you.</p><p><strong>Alexey Repik:</strong> Mr President, three or four years ago, at our congress, Mikhail Goncharov told you about his pancakes and about issues related to public catering in the Russian Federation. Do you remember "Teremok", when Macron was still sitting, waiting, and Mikhail Petrovich still could not stop in his great enthusiasm?</p><p>They really make 35 million pancakes a year, and during this time they have already baked more than 100 million. As far as I know, we conducted an experiment with the Ministry of Finance and the Government to adjust taxation in the industry. If you don't mind?"</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> Please. In my opinion, we are currently undergoing an experiment.</p><p><strong>Mikhail Goncharov:</strong> It is almost over.</p><p>Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich, in the early 1990s, when I saw how McDonalds works, I was shocked (I was a young student then) by how this business machine works. It really set me on fire, and I wanted to create our Russian project. And in 1998, I had such a chance, just after the crisis, I once again went bankrupt and realized that I now need to realize my dream.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> I feel that all this is good for you, you look very good.</p><p><strong>Mikhail Goncharov:</strong> Yes, the soul of the project is Russian cuisine and pancakes. Moreover, I was so eager and eager to restore what we had lost that even we address our customers as "sir" and " madam".</p><p>In 26 years of such steady, steady development, we have opened 350 restaurants, and overall business is going well. But in 2022, as you said, an experiment was conducted for medium-sized companies with a turnover of up to two billion. They were exempted from VAT and social taxes were reduced.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> Social payments.</p><p><strong>M. Goncharov:</strong> Social insurance.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> To what level?</p><p><strong>M. Goncharov:</strong> From 30 to 15. Yes, for three years the experiment, in general, was a success. The Ministry of Finance even officially published the results in the newspapers that tax growth, business growth, turnover growth and overall the result was positive.</p><p>But you said "denote a barrier"... There was still one barrier left. And at that moment, the decision was made for companies up to two billion. We're going out now…</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> Increase it?</p><p><strong>Mikhail Goncharov:</strong> No, I can't increase it.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> The government wants to increase it to three.</p><p><strong>Mikhail Goncharov:</strong> It wants to increase this micro-solution. This, as far as I know, has already been agreed upon. Those companies that have now reached barrier two or three are not important, they continue to have this barrier. In other words, social taxes increase from 15 to 30 and VAT immediately appears.</p><p>We have been working on the option and ask you to agree on a three percent VAT deductible. And, most interestingly, we propose to divide it into two parts: two percent to the federal budget, and one percent to the municipal budget.</p><p>In the government of the Moscow region, we held a meeting on the results of covid, and they say: "You know, we kind of need you, but you're not very interesting, we don't get anything from you." This one percent of the municipality may also encourage the interest of local authorities and help companies consolidate and develop on a large business scale. Because American fast food companies, of course, captured the whole world and felt great in Russia. We need our own national champions.</p><p>Why am I performing? Because we have five of them today, and there should be dozens. And, unfortunately, this barrier often forces companies to split up, does not allow them to open in the regions, increase or scale their business.</p><p>The proposal to introduce a three percent VAT and continue to work out the issue of some kind of smoothing the growth of these social taxes, because this industry is also quite man-intensive, and the growth is strong. 3 percent is our main offer.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin: </strong>And now?</p><p><strong>Mikhail Goncharov:</strong> Now we have a 20% VAT rate, but it is deductible, and it is difficult to administer. People have huge problems there, and there are constant disputes: both the tax and law enforcement agencies constantly catch this VAT. This revolving tax is a very good idea. Now, in general, companies pay from 3 to 4 percent. That is, in principle, this is not a very serious decline, but it will allow the company to consolidate and develop.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin: </strong>You know, Mikhail Petrovich, it seems to me that you are right, we are constantly discussing in the Government: we need to keep VAT or just change everything completely, switch to the turnover tax as a whole, and so on, that individual exceptions are ineffective. But it seems to me that just such a delicate work is being done by industry, while in Moscow this experiment is mainly carried out, right?</p><p><strong>Mikhail Goncharov:</strong> No, it was all over the country.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin: </strong>It started in Moscow, and I think it worked effectively.</p><p><strong>Mikhail Goncharov:</strong> We started, yes. In Moscow, the main companies are Russian.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin: </strong>Yes, of course. And in general, I think that what you say is appropriate. This will give us a big return, even at all levels of the budget system. You said that the Ministry of Finance conducted an analysis and generally believes that it is appropriate. And now we will see if this is the case. Let's ask Anton Germanovich whether the Ministry of Finance will support Mikhail Petrovich's proposal.</p><p><strong>Alexander Siluanov:</strong> Mr President, good afternoon!</p><p>Indeed, we are with our colleagues, with catering entrepreneurs…</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> Smiling is a good sign. He'll agree now.</p><p><strong>A. Siluanov:</strong> Not with everything. We met with fellow entrepreneurs from the catering industry and, I thought, agreed on some good, positive steps.</p><p>First. We have agreed to raise the threshold from two billion rubles of revenue to three billion rubles, up to which VAT is not paid. We have agreed, and such amendments have already been prepared for submission to the Duma. The bill is currently under consideration for the second reading; we will introduce it and pass it in the spring session. This is already a good result.</p><p>Now what my colleagues say. Our colleagues say: let's make the VAT rate for public catering reduced, we said 3 percent here, so that there is no fragmentation and there is no desire to split up, but there are such facts, and we see that whole large public catering chains are being split up. We are also ready to consider the issue of 3 percent without deduction, maybe 3-4 percent. We still need to make more careful calculations here, and we are ready to work out such proposals together with our colleagues who work in public catering.</p><p>As for the transfer of part of the VAT to the regional and local level, we still ask not to change the general approaches. VAT is a federal tax, and we are taking a tougher stance on changing its focus.</p><p>As for insurance premiums, my colleagues also raised [the issue], it seems to me that this is a question of forming pension rights, and in general, the formation of resources that are needed for the health insurance system, pension insurance. By the way, decisions have already been made on a 15% rate for those categories of enterprises that have revenues of up to 2 billion rubles. There will also be up to 3 billion rubles, that is, there are already corresponding exemptions. Therefore, in terms of VAT, we are ready to work out, and I think we will find a solution.</p><p>But, Mr President, what did I want to say? Indeed, we believe that the experiment is successful. But I wanted to contact my colleagues, I know for myself: on Friday you come to a cafe or restaurant, they say: only for cash. Or they punch receipts, bring them through the terminal, but not invoices for the ordered service or for the ordered corresponding products.</p><p>Therefore, the experiment seems to be a success, but colleagues still continue to cheat. And here we all need to work together to ensure that we all comply with our common legislation, including tax legislation. Thank you.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> <em><strong>Yes, everyone is cunning, you just have to admit it, this is the law. For example, you just said: "We have submitted a law to the State Duma. Then you say, " We'll accept." But it is not you who accept it, it is the parliament that accepts it. Then: "And that's a good thing." And this is evaluated by the consumer, whether it is good or not. Everyone is cunning. We just need to find the best option to ensure that the consumer benefits, and that the state not only does not suffer, but the industry develops.</strong></em></p><p>Mikhail Petrovich said about some administrative difficulties that arise when implementing what works. In general, it works well, Anton Germanovich [Siluanov] is right. What are the administrative difficulties that arise?</p><p><strong>Mikhail Goncharov:</strong> First of all, calculating this 20 percent VAT is a very difficult task, accounting for invoices. And this 3 percent revolving tax is very easy to administer, we just won't spend it.…</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin: </strong>OK, I get it. But how do you get away from what the Finance Minister said – these bills and so on?</p><p><strong>Mikhail Goncharov:</strong> Unfortunately, I think we should take tough measures. My suggestion is about big business, there is no such thing, these are serious big companies.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> What are the tough measures?</p><p><strong>M. Goncharov:</strong> Legal.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> From 10 to 15? What? What are the tough measures?</p><p><strong>Mikhail Goncharov:</strong> If the receipts don't get through, I just don't know what happens.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin: </strong>All right, all right. Then, Anton Germanovich, I have a request and a suggestion for you. You should consult with your colleagues from the Ministry of Economic Development and suggest toughening measures so that, of course, they won't send anyone to prison for 20-25 years, but they will be effective and efficient. First.</p><p>And the second thing is that ... well, I can't disagree with Anton Germanovich, by the way, that splitting VAT, which is federal, and violating general principles, is not very good.</p><p>But what is important from what Mikhail Petrovich said is that the local authorities say that we are not very interested in you, because we do not receive anything from you. <em><strong>His idea is correct: you need to interest the local authorities somehow.</strong></em> One percentile or less, but they must have some income from this. And then they will actively contribute to the whole process. Anton Germanovich, we need to think about this.</p><p><strong>Alexander Siluanov:</strong> I see, Mr President.</p><p>There, the only thing--I will immediately respond, if possible--is that this whole experiment is aimed at whitewashing this business. And as we whitewash-–and we see that this is indeed happening–-income taxes are being paid more and more. The salary increases because the salary paid is not lower than the average for the economy of the subject, and the subject receives its personal income tax. This is also a good help.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> These are indirect consequences–-positive, but indirect. But Mikhail Petrovich spoke of a direct interest–-we need to think about this.</p><p>I don't want to start a discussion here right now. But if you think about it, you can definitely find something that will interest local authorities in supporting this process, this business.</p><p>Take a look, please. Ok?</p><p><strong>A. Siluanov:</strong> It's clear.</p><p><strong>Mikhail Goncharov:</strong> Mr President, my mother and I would also like to take this opportunity to invite you to Teremok. She is the author of all Teremka recipes. If there is a chance, we will be very happy.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> Thank you very much. Without any jokes, without any irony, I want to thank you and with pleasure, indeed, when the opportunity comes–-I hope it will arise--I will definitely come to you. And there, you look, and Pavel Borisovich is not greedy. (Laughter.)</p><p><strong>Pavel Titov:</strong> We already have a tandem.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> Thank you very much.</p><p><strong>Alexey Repik:</strong> Thank you very much, Mr President.</p><p>We have completely different companies in Delovaya Rossiya. Now we are moving to high tech. Alexey Alexandrovich Kalinin, Aquarius, makes the base stations that we use to communicate in cellular communications and big data storage systems. Very serious, interesting and important work.</p><p>It seems to me that such companies are the first, as they say, in the queue to enter the public markets. And Elvira Sakhipzadovna [Nabiullina] very correctly says all the time that <em><strong>we need to replace debt capital, debt financing with equity</strong></em>.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> <em><strong>We need to attract citizens ' money.</strong></em></p><p><strong>A. Repik:</strong> Yes. In order to do this, probably, more effectively, again, fulfilling your instructions to increase the capitalization of the Russian stock market, which has a very ambitious goal and task, certain measures are needed.</p><p>I'll ask Alexey Alexandrovich then.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> Please.</p><p><strong>Alexander Kalinin:</strong> Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich,</p><p>Let me personally congratulate you on the Great Victory Day.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> Thank you very much.</p><p><strong>Alexander Kalinin:</strong> Mr President, thanks to your instructions and the Government's decisions, computer technology and other high-tech industries have grown significantly over the past three years and have accelerated at an accelerated pace. Technology is an integral part of our country's sovereignty and security, and it is our future.</p><p>To date, we have learned how to make cool products, such as, for example, servers that adequately compete with their Western and Eastern counterparts, and entire segments of data storage systems. Here the task is to create top-level systems, but I am sure that in the next year and a half we will cope with this, we will understand how to do it.</p><p>Finally, as Alexey Yevgenyevich said, we have already put into production the first Russian 4G and 5G base stations, which are already operated in the network of one of our largest telecom operators. I would like to take this opportunity to invite you to our production site; it will be a great honor if you can visit.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> Thank you. It's not pancakes, of course, but still.</p><p><strong>Alexander Kalinin:</strong> But it's very interesting. This is really very interesting and worthy. And I think that what we and our competitors have done over the past three years is really a huge breakthrough.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> Thank you very much.</p><p><strong>Alexander Kalinin:</strong> Base stations are already a ready-to-export product, and we are negotiating with friendly countries about this. For example, with Myanmar, and here, too, we count on your support–-I know that the head of Myanmar was at the Victory Parade. In conditions of very expensive money, it is extremely important for us today to maintain the same investment pace and potential of high-tech companies.</p><p>Vladimir Vladimirovich, as Alexey Yevgenyevich has already said, you have set a very ambitious goal to increase the capitalization of the stock market. This requires attracting new issuers, new investors, and fast and flexible financial resources. <em><strong>Technology companies already need and are ready to raise equity capital.</strong></em></p><p>For many small technology companies, launching an IPO is an extremely expensive procedure: <em><strong>the costs of lawyers, reporting, and commissions to host banks amount to about five to nine percent of the placement amount, which is very expensive</strong></em>. However, IPO compensation is currently provided only for small technology companies that must be included in the special register of the MTC.</p><p>At the same time, an IPO is more relevant not for small companies, but for larger ones, and certainly for fast-growing companies. At the same time, a large company will most likely not use the compensation if its amount is small. That is, the amount of compensation itself may be a limiting criterion.</p><p>Vladimir Vladimirovich, we have three proposals.</p><p><em><strong>The first is to expand and transform the MTK register into a register of high-tech companies that correspond to the taxonomy of technological sovereignty.</strong></em> Separately allocate the MTK segment in this register for targeted grant provision and extend the measures provided for in the federal project "Technologies" of the national project "Effective and Competitive Economy" to companies of the extended register to encourage IPO entry.</p><p>Second suggestion. <em><strong>We propose to create incentives in the form of personal income tax benefits for the purchase and ownership of public shares in the initial acquisition, i.e. IPO or SPO.</strong></em> This will provide significant appeal to retail investors and create healthy competition between stocks and deposits.</p><p>And the third. The taxonomy of technological sovereignty projects is an effective mechanism that has provided high-tech loans.<em><strong> In order to fill the high-tech market faster with money from professional investors, please instruct the Bank of Russia to consider various tools to encourage professional investors. </strong></em>For example, the ability to reduce reserve requirements for banks when investing in shares within the taxonomy.</p><p>Thank you very much. Thank you for your attention.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> I will start with what you have just finished. Incentives, of course, are correct, taxonomy is correct, and reducing the Central Bank's reserve requirements for commercial banks is all the more subtle.</p><p>After all, why does the Bank of Russia do this? This is one of the ways to fight inflation, these are obvious things. At the same time, the regulator, however, makes certain exceptions. But we need to talk to the Central Bank separately on this issue. Maybe this will pass in the discussions of the Central Bank – why? Because I don't think that the volumes there are very large, this is very important. And the direction, absolutely the key direction, is technological development, technological sovereignty. These are obvious things.</p><p>So, of course, I will talk to Elvira Sakhipzadovna. We don't have anyone in touch from the bank today?</p><p><strong>E. Nabiullina: </strong>I'm here.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> Elvira Sakhipzadovna, I'll give you the floor now. See, he's also smiling, so everything is fine.</p><p>Everyone is smiling, everyone is in a good mood.</p><p>Now for the other two suggestions. Of course, we have an extremely important task to attract money from investors, including ordinary citizens, to these processes. That is why we have created conditions and increased insurance guarantees for citizens, which is good.</p><p>I think we have quite ambitious goals to increase our stock market, both primary and secondary investments, and so on. I think that's more than 24 percent of our GDP right now. And by 2030 or 2036--I don't remember which one–-we plan to achieve 66 percent of GDP. In other words, these are serious, very big tasks.</p><p>Before Elvira Sakhipzadovna takes the floor, I would like to give the floor to Maxim Stanislavovich Oreshkin, because he is also constantly engaged in this through the Administration. Now I give him my word on purpose, so that you will have support. Elvira Sakhipzadovna got bored right away. (Laughter.)</p><p>Maxim Stanislavovich, please.</p><p><strong>Mikhail Oreshkin:</strong> Thank you very much, Mr Putin.</p><p>Here, of course, the main task is to stimulate exactly the moment when companies enter the stock exchange. We are not talking about buying and selling shares on the secondary market. This is an important story of stimulating the parish specifically for primary placement, and the issue of taxation of those incomes that appear here.</p><p>My colleagues and I have discussed this issue, and I believe that we can move towards our colleagues to a certain extent, because, indeed, then we will see more demand in the primary market. This means that there will be more initial placements, and not only will the goals be met the goals are not just calculated, they are taken from what we want to achieve. <em><strong>And we want to make sure that there is less debt capital,</strong></em> Elvira Sakhipzadovna keeps repeating. And that is why this movement is about creating conditions for such investments to be made.</p><p>And by reservation. The Ministry of Economic Development and the Central Bank have also done a lot of work here. This is a special register, in fact, a list of companies of technological sovereignty–-they have a special approach to lending. This measure is actually very effective, it is starting to work, it was recently launched a year or a year and a half ago, and it is starting to work. We need to look at how to adjust it, how to expand it.</p><p>I think Elvira Sakhipzadovna will tell you about it now.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> Thank you very much.</p><p>Alexey Alexandrovich [Kalinin], I must say that your suggestions, especially in the final period, are not original – please don't be angry. I will say why: because I have already heard many times from representatives of various fields of activity proposals of this nature.</p><p>Elvira Sakhipzadovna won't let me lie; I work it out every time in the sense that we discuss these issues with the chairman of the Central Bank. I can assure you that this is always the case, and Elvira will confirm it in a moment. But in general, I would like to ask you, Elvira Sakhipzadovna, to comment on this issue, how the Central Bank treats it. I can imagine how you feel about the third part, but in general.</p><p>You are welcome.</p><p><strong>E. Nabiullina:</strong> Thank you very much.</p><p>In general, we support and try to create conditions for financing, first of all, projects of technological sovereignty and such structural adaptation. We understand that financial resources should be used for such projects.</p><p>We need banking regulation and regulations first of all to support the overall stability of the financial system. Why is it important? I also want to remind entrepreneurs that when we faced these difficulties in 2022, it was the stability of the banking system that allowed us to continue lending, restructure loans, and so on at a difficult time.</p><p>Therefore, of course,<em><strong> the banking system needs stable capital,</strong></em> so we are always so careful about this. But nevertheless, together with the Government, we have developed a good mechanism, and Alexey Alexandrovich said about it–-this is support for taxonomy projects.</p><p>In other words, the Government has developed criteria for a project that relates to technological sovereignty, and we have relaxed banking regulation based on these criteria. The register is maintained by VEB, and now there are 48 projects worth 3.5 trillion in the project register, and banks have already allocated a line for one and a half trillion and issued 500 billion for them – under light regulation. This tool was slow at first, but now we see that it is being used more actively.</p><p>What do your colleagues suggest? They suggest that this should not only work through banks, but also, for example, we would encourage non-state pension funds to invest in such shares, shares of technology companies. <em><strong>But here I must say that the regulation of non-state pension funds is probably even more stringent than in relation to banks, because it is the safety of future pensioners' money</strong></em>.</p><p>And of course, there should be some risk management involved. Therefore, our regulation now allows pension reserves to be invested in any shares within a special limit of seven percent. And, I must say, non-state pension funds do not choose this limit.</p><p>This is not a question of regulatory restrictions, because the limit is small, but it is often difficult for non-state pension funds themselves to evaluate such shares, especially if they are not traded. If they are traded on an exchange, it is much easier. By the way, we have allowed–-this was not the case before--and relaxed the requirements for participation of non-state pension funds in IPOs. That is, even when the initial public offering is underway, when the prices for these shares have not yet settled, but nevertheless they have done it.</p><p>This year, we plan to increase the limit on assets with a high level of risk and expand opportunities to buy shares not from the Moscow Exchange index. <em><strong>In other words, we are ready to move, but carefully, understanding that there should be management here, which is connected with the money of future pensioners. </strong></em>Therefore, we are ready to discuss this further.</p><p>Colleagues also raised the topic of supporting technology companies in general, and launching them on the stock exchange—Maxim Stanislavovich said this. We strongly support this. We do have cost-recovery measures, and for small companies, even for some medium-sized ones, entering the stock exchange is not the cheapest option. We support, in principle, the possibility of expanding the list of such technology companies.</p><p>But here the Government plays the first fiddle, because it determines these criteria by decree. We, as the Central Bank, have sent our proposals to the Government and hope that we will somehow complete this long discussion on these criteria, what companies can be, and will be able to extend the benefits that already work for small technology companies to a wider circle.</p><p>We also offered our own support measures not only for personal income tax, but also, I will say, for income tax in order to encourage companies to enter the market, because, indeed, we need to develop the capitalization of the stock market.</p><p>In the first speech, Pavel Borisovich [Titov], in my opinion, spoke about how important it is to reorient state support measures only from credit support to grants, when companies attract their own capital. We are also very supportive of this.</p><p>First, it is less inflationary. Because now, in order to get state support measures, you need to take out a loan. In order to develop, it is not necessary to take a loan: you can invest your own funds and offer them from the capital market.</p><p>Therefore, in our opinion, <em><strong>there should still be a set of measures that would encourage companies to enter the capital market.</strong></em> And it is very gratifying to hear that today not only in one speech, but in several, this topic is raised–-about measures to stimulate access to the capital market.</p><p>I'll stop here. Thank you.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin</strong>: You know, both the first part and the second part are extremely important. What do I mean by that? First of all, the topic itself is a mainstream one. This is one of the most important areas – ensuring technological independence and growth, this is obvious. Second, and no less important, how to enter the exchange? Of course, the development of this tool itself is extremely important. We constantly talk about this with our colleagues from the Government and the Central Bank.</p><p>This is how I would like to conclude this part of our discussion: we certainly need to ensure the safety of pension funds--this is obvious. But here it is clear that these funds, our companies that hold money and rather big money of our pensioners, are sometimes difficult to understand.</p><p>First of all, I have a request to the Central Bank, the Government, and the Administration to help these funds sort it out. To develop some kind of tool that could give, first, to put it mildly, some advice. And the second and most important thing–-but it's difficult, of course, because now Anton Germanovich [Siluanov] will get nervous, but nevertheless--<em><strong>to support, to take on some part of the risk, </strong></em>that's what's important.</p><p>Of course, I understand that, especially in today's conditions, it is difficult to take on an additional burden on the budget, but such mechanisms can definitely be invented if you sit together. Take some of the risk yourself. This means that there must be some guarantees. We need to think together. I would ask the Central Bank, the Administration, and the Government to think about this issue together with you and with your participation.</p><p><strong>Reply</strong>: Thank you very much.</p><p><strong>Alexey Repik</strong>: Thank you very much. I really hope that we will be able to find some solutions that will suit Vysokotech.</p><p>And when we talk about technological sovereignty today, of course, it has completely different facets. The second one that comes to mind is our pharmaceutical industry. Vasily Gennadyevich (addressing V. Ignatiev), please speak.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Ignatiev</strong>: Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich,</p><p>Over the past 10-15 years, most state support measures in the economy have focused on creating new industries, import substitution, and creating new jobs. However, at the moment when unemployment is at a historic low, and in a number of industries, including our pharmaceutical industry, a sufficient production base has already been created, the creation and development of new product lines is coming to the fore.</p><p>We believe that investing in new products can provide real technological sovereignty, open up access to international markets, and boost productivity growth.</p><p>Here is an example of our company. In 2014, under Government Decree No. 1044, we attracted a VEB loan worth 9.5 billion rubles at a subsidized rate. The investment was aimed at clinical trials of seven new medicines. Last year, we fulfilled all our loan obligations to VEB and closed them.</p><p>What happened in the end? The total investment amounted to 33.5 billion rubles, that is, the soft loan funds covered about a little less than 30 percent of the total need, the rest, the company's own funds. This just illustrates the situation that Pavel Borisovich [Titov] described at the very beginning, when his own funds did not go somewhere else, but worked synergistically with the subsidy provided.</p><p>Unfortunately, two of the seven drugs did not reach the market, and we had to stop working on them. We are still working on one thing at a time, and we are not losing hope. Four have been successfully registered and are already being sold, and two of them are protected by global patents and are in the process of registration or are already registered in 11 countries. And the number of such states is growing, including the countries of the Persian Gulf, Latin America, and the Asia-Pacific region. Their total turnover has already exceeded 40 billion rubles, and tax deductions--6.7 billion rubles, which is a multiple of the cost of subsidies. In other words, we got a situation that our English-speaking colleagues call "win-win": a double win.</p><p>What measures are working now? The most reliable and trouble–free mechanism is the Industrial Development Fund. Unfortunately, the amount of loans provided is insufficient to cover the costs of large research programs. Within the framework of the cluster investment platform, investor support is mainly focused on capital investments in construction, equipment of production facilities and development of already popular product lines.</p><p>We propose to refine the criteria of the rules for granting subsidies under Government Decree No. 295, in order to include the costs of creating new and improved products in the pharmaceutical industry, the so-called priority product lists.</p><p>As part of the "Pharma-2030" strategy, the Ministry of Industry and Trade is preparing a new profile program, which is directly related to the already mentioned compensations. <em><strong>The program will allow you to compensate up to half of the costs of clinical trials of new drugs if they are successfully registered.</strong></em> The program is good, we are very much looking forward to it, and we would like to speed up its adoption as much as possible.</p><p>For the most large-scale projects, there is a new tool from VEB.RF – - project finance factory. It was also mentioned earlier today. The factory is ideally suited for solving the tasks I mentioned, but there are no precedents for providing support in our industry for it yet. We believe that a certain industry priority is needed in the framework of the work of the "factory".</p><p>Finally, there are offsets at the regional level that involve the fulfillment of counter-obligations to investors and customers. The problem here is that these are long-term contracts, and the range of products delivered is fixed for ten or more years in advance, which makes it difficult to supply new and improved goods.</p><p>The issue of adjusting offset contracts in terms of the product range is not directly resolved by federal legislation. There is a mechanism of regional legal acts, but in the absence of a federal norm, it actually works extremely difficult. We ask that the Government be given the power to determine when and how offset contracts should be amended during the delivery phase to provide more flexibility to the customer and supplier in terms of delivering improved and newer products, of course, subject to the customer's consent and strict compliance with all investment obligations.</p><p>Vladimir Vladimirovich, you can be sure that our country is well protected in terms of accessibility and uncompromising quality of medicines, and with appropriate support, industry enterprises are ready to enter new markets and move forward. Thanks for attention.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin</strong>: Vasily Gennadyevich, this is the most important area of work–-the health of citizens; it is one of the key topics, one of the key areas. And in recent years, of course, we have made huge strides forward here, just huge ones. I want to thank you and everyone who works in this field.</p><p>Of course, we know the same thing all over the world—<em><strong>there are more problems than solutions</strong></em>. It's in any country now poke your finger and we'll get into trouble. There is not a single country in the world, as it seems to me, where there are no problems in the field of medicine and pharmacy. But nevertheless, we have obvious progress, it is definitely perfect, but there is something to work on.</p><p>First, you know, I would like to comment on some things now. All right, let's have offset contracts. How old are they now, about 10 years old?</p><p><strong>Vladimir Ignatiev</strong>: Yes, 10-11 years on average.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin</strong>: And do you have a proposal to expand or increase it?</p><p><strong>Vladimir Ignatiev</strong>:<em><strong> No, you should be able to change the product range without changing the deadline, because the range of popular pharmaceutical products is updated faster.</strong></em></p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin</strong>: That's it, I understand. Well, let's ask the Minister to comment right then, the Minister of Health.</p><p>Mikhail Albertovich (addressing M. Murashko), how do you feel about this proposal?</p><p><strong><a href="https://translated.turbopages.org/proxy_u/ru-en.en.a9c12714-682385b2-81a79d28-74722d776562/kremlin.ru/catalog/persons/627/events">Mikhail Murashko </a></strong>: Good afternoon, dear Vladimir Vladimirovich!</p><p>Indeed, when forecasting for long periods of time, it is always considered that innovations in the healthcare sector can appear faster, so this proposal deserves attention.</p><p>Well, you can see that today the pharmaceutical industry is not only working for the domestic market, but also for export, which was said earlier. At their meetings with the heads of state, they noted that the Russian healthcare sector is interested in contacts with us, as well as the pharmaceutical industry. Therefore, we can definitely work in this area to make it more flexible and work out proposals together with the Ministry of Industry and Trade, since the Ministry of Industry and Trade is responsible for the contracts themselves.</p><p>Thank you.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin</strong>: But, you know, it will depend on you in the end. In fact, the problem is not industrial, but medical in nature. Their offers are developing, and you need to register or facilitate registration.</p><p>By the way, does it happen, Vasily Gennadyevich, that you can't register here, but you do register something abroad?</p><p><strong>Vladimir Ignatiev</strong>: No, we have never had such precedents.<em><strong> After all, we have priority in the home market and register here faster.</strong></em></p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin</strong>: You all laugh, but in fact, I can imagine what it means to register a medical product with us. This is a complex process, and many people complain about the administrative structures that do this.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Ignatiev</strong>: We have no complaints here.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin</strong>: If they had told him now, they would have appeared immediately, I understand. But I know that the processes here are not easy, so this is not an idle question.</p><p>As for the interaction between the two agencies, Anton Andreevich will now comment on it.</p><p><strong><a href="https://translated.turbopages.org/proxy_u/ru-en.en.a9c12714-682385b2-81a79d28-74722d776562/kremlin.ru/catalog/persons/491/events">Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation</a></strong>: Thank you very much, dear Vladimir Vladimirovich. I will then try to reveal a few theses [speech] Mikhail Albertovich [Murashko].</p><p>First. In fact, we now have the opportunity to improve the quality of our products in accordance with the legislation, which was mentioned by Maxim G. [Reshetnikov], and the quality of our products is already possible by agreement of the parties.</p><p>But, of course, there are significant nuances, given the specifics of the pharmaceutical market. This is not an easy question, and the proposals that Vasily Gennadyevich [Ignatiev] mentioned, including additional clarifications in the Law 44-FZ "On Public Procurement", they probably won't hurt for greater legal certainty. In our opinion, this would be the right thing to do.</p><p>Specify the reasons for these renegotiations, for changing the properties of the delivered products. Indeed, we agree that article 111 of this law already authorizes the Government to make such decisions. But if the reasons are specified there, including in more detail, then, I think, this will make life easier for our entrepreneurs.</p><p>If I may, Mr President, I would like to comment on other aspects that Vasily Gennadyevich touched upon in his speech–-the so-called cluster investment platform. He said that not all expenses can be subsidized through this mechanism, which is administered through the Industrial Development Fund.</p><p>In general, we have now supported about 47 projects, and several dozen more are under consideration for an investment of about a trillion rubles. Indeed, we also support pharmaceutical projects. R-Pharm, in particular, combines an offset contract and support through the cluster investment platform of the Ministry of Industry and Trade.<em><strong> But here it was really justly said that a new mechanism for supporting innovative developments is needed, because the cluster investment platform focused on those drugs that are already, in fact, supplied and are included in these lists of vital drugs. And innovative, new developments need to be supported in some way in addition.</strong></em></p><p>We are currently discussing this with our colleagues from both the business community and the Ministry of Health. Here, Mr Putin, the most important issue is the so-called right to make a mistake. We have three phases of clinical trials, all of which are quite extensive in terms of costs. At the Ministry of Industry, we are ready to subsidize a registered pharmaceutical product or drug based on the results of the third phase. <em><strong>Business asks us: no, let's also subsidize the first and second stages of clinical trials, because this is a significant burden for us, we need to develop so-called molecules.</strong></em></p><p>Together with our business colleagues, Innopraktika has joined this process, and we are developing and reviewing international experience, such as Chinese. Over the past 7-10 years, they have become leaders in terms of the volume of accumulated molecules. <em><strong>That is, they have a reserve of these molecules—still unregistered pharmaceutical products, but the molecules that are patented are huge, it is now higher than even the leader of the traditional one--the United States. Now the Chinese have a higher potential.</strong></em></p><p>We believe that we need to emulate this experience, just repeat it and land it on our soil. Therefore, we hope to coordinate all these approaches in the near future and report back to you with proposals that we hope to reflect in the budget in the next budget cycle and start helping our companies finance and subsidize these expenses.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin</strong>: Here, of course, we need to coordinate the work of several agencies and the expert community. Tatiana Alekseevna, please.</p><p><strong>Tatyana Golikova:</strong> Good afternoon, Vladimir Vladimirovich! Good afternoon, colleagues!</p><p>It is a very difficult question from the point of view of what Anton Andreevich has just said: subsidizing pre-clinics, and in some cases clinics. We have made a lot of serious progress in recent years. First, we have created preclinical databases. We have almost 119 preclinical bases, and we provide quite a wide range of opportunities for passing pre-clinical courses.</p><p>Now, as part of a new national project, part of the technological leadership project, new technologies for saving health, we are also creating clinical bases. And now, in the framework of 2025, if my memory serves me correctly, we are allocating 2.9 billion rubles to equip clinical bases in various areas of drug research. This is the first time we have done this on a system basis, but it is a definite help, including to our manufacturers.</p><p>There are also certain requirements for passing regulatory procedures in those countries where our colleagues are going to export their products. Each has its own regulatory requirements, which, in principle, we cannot spend the financial resources of the federal budget on. Here, of course, colleagues should spend money themselves. It seems to me that the solution here lies in finding a balance.</p><p>We, together with our pharmaceutical industry, together with the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Industry and Trade, have developed a "road map" within the framework of the new national project "New Technologies for Saving Health"-–as we reported to you about it--which contains 186 international nonproprietary names of medicines that we must necessarily provide in the territory of the Russian Federation with our production in order to be protected from defects.</p><p>As a rule, state resources are spent on the purchase of these medicines--whether it is the federal budget or the budgets of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. And this is a way to make money, including in the pharmaceutical industry.</p><p>And here, perhaps, we need to consider all the resources that the industry and the state have, from the point of view of allocating these resources for the purposes that we need: for preclinics, for clinics, and for the development of new medicines.</p><p>But, indeed, we are currently working with the Ministry of Industry and Trade in this direction. We very much hope that the measures we have taken, including in the framework of a new national project, will yield results and we will offer new solutions to support the development of new medicines.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> The formula that Mikhail Albertovich has just outlined, of course, sets up a good mood. He said I wrote it down: "Deserves attention for consideration."</p><p><strong>Tatyana Golikova:</strong> Mr President, I may be a little more careful. The fact is that any offset contract implies essential conditions. And changing the essential conditions-this, in general, to put it mildly, does not really fit in with Federal Law No. 44, which regulates public procurement, and therefore subsequent competition, and so on.</p><p><em><strong>Therefore, we need to carefully consider the circumstances that force us to change the essential terms of the contract. This is always a dispute between the antimonopoly authority and those bodies that protect the relevant industry.</strong></em></p><p>I think that Mikhail Albertovich meant the following: that we are ready to look at the proposals of our colleagues, what kind of changing production conditions can be, which lead, I probably hope very much, to improving the quality of the products that were designated under the offset contract for a long period of time.</p><p>Once again, I want to finish where I started: I am cautious, because this is competition law and these are essential terms of the contract.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> Tatyana Alekseyevna, you mentioned Federal Law No. 44, but you and I are well aware that we have been floating around this issue for many years—it does not correspond to many things. We are constantly making some changes there, constantly doing this in relation to different branches of production.</p><p>You know, the main criterion is, of course, the interests of the consumer, this is an obvious thing. We must not make mistakes here–-I fully agree with you and Mikhail Albertovich, and I understand what is being said. But at the same time, this mechanism should be flexible. Of course, you need to ensure the interests of the consumer, because this is the health of people.</p><p>Business is a very important part of the whole process, but in the end, the main thing is people. <em><strong>This is something that people should try to do. Because if there is a more flexible approach, it means that people and consumers should get the product that is needed today in an improved form.</strong></em></p><p>That's what we're talking about, isn't it, Vasily Gennadyevich?</p><p><strong>Vladimir Ignatiev:</strong> Yes, of course.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> But we will also support businesses, help them respond more flexibly and, accordingly, have resources for future development.</p><p>I would ask both you and the relevant ministries–-both ministers have just spoken–-to regulate this issue accordingly and work on it. Okay?</p><p><strong>Tatyana Golikova:</strong> All right.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> Thank you.</p><p>But I still have a question for Igor Ivanovich Shuvalov. Igor Ivanovich, how does this "Project Finance Factory" work in general under the bank's management?</p><p><strong>Igor Shuvalov:</strong> Mr President, thank you.</p><p>Fabrika is working well: we currently have 39 projects in production for a total of almost six trillion rubles. We have projects in our portfolio that are currently being discussed, such as the pharmaceutical industry. However, there is no "Project Finance Factory".</p><p>What Anton Andreevich just said about the cluster investment platform, the factory, and other projects–-we are working on special tracks together with the Government, ministries and departments. So the fact that we don't have a pharmaceutical industry in Fabrika means that we use other tools to serve such projects.</p><p>By the way, I would like to say that we don't have a single problematic project in the Factory yet, Mr Putin. In general, this mechanism, which was proposed by Maxim Stanislavovich Oreshkin in 2017, has fully proven itself as the most reliable, but at the same time–-in the current conditions of a high key rate—it is very expensive.</p><p>This year alone, we will need about 300 billion rubles from the federal budget to subsidize 39 existing projects. Most of the funds are already provided for in the federal budget law. For the remaining funds, the necessary instructions were given at the level of the Government leadership. We expect that these funds will be fully provided to us and that we will fulfill all our obligations to our customers.</p><p>Here we have a very difficult job right now. On the one hand, the Ministry of Economic Development is the main promoter of the conclusion of new agreements on the "Project Finance Factory". The Ministry of Finance, of course, is quite conservative in its approach to this issue, so that we do not increase our federal budget obligations in the face of expectations of credit contraction and high interest rates.</p><p>Nevertheless, we review new projects and make decisions on new projects. Along with the fact that there is also the Industrial Development Fund, which is also part of the management of development institutions and the cluster investment platform, I think that we have no exception for the pharmaceutical industry in order not to provide such projects with credit resources in one way or another. The main thing is that we all have a consensus that such projects should be supported.</p><p>And of course, Mr Putin, thank you for your support. Despite the fact that we are always in disputes with the Ministry of Finance, I must say that the rehabilitation of VEB survived thanks to the serious support of Anton Siluanov. We've had a difficult situation for a long time. Just because Anton Germanovich took it upon himself, made the most difficult and hard decisions, we are so active in the market today, and we help the Government, and we carry out your instructions.</p><p><em><strong>I hope that the Government is currently discussing the provision of additional capital to VEB, on the one hand, so that we can be prepared for lower rates and actively work in the market on the issue of project financing and other instruments. We are currently discussing what tools we can use to add to our capital.</strong></em></p><p>On the other hand, we are currently discussing new directions as part of our new strategy. Now we operate in the old 26 priority areas, the pharmaceutical industry is included there. We are currently discussing with the Central Bank how to learn how to work in new mechanisms using the funds of pensioners, including those who are silent. Tomorrow Tatiana Alexeyevna has a corresponding meeting in the Government on the draft law–-we are preparing for it, and the Ministry of Finance will report there.</p><p><em><strong>We now have the widest range of tools: from simple lending to lending with the support of the federal budget and involving other non-credit resources in order to direct them to replenish capital in certain projects. We are now here, if I may say so, among the best leaders, together with ministries and departments, and we cooperate with commercial banks.</strong></em></p><p>We hope, Mr President, that in May, under the leadership of Maxim Oreshkin, we will provide a decision—already for your approval--on a new mechanism for coordinating development institutions within the framework of the National Projects Council. We are ready for this work, and this will help us make decisions faster.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> Thank you.</p><p><strong>Alexey Repik:</strong> Mr President, you mentioned at the very beginning when you spoke about companies or industries that most of all do not want competition to return, such as agriculture, but in fact not only that. It seems to me that tourism is also doing well. But there is a combination of agriculture and tourism, which we have here today in the person of Roman Batalov, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Mantera.</p><p>It seems to me that, first of all, we all learned to travel around our country and discover new, completely interesting, unknown places in it. We have developed agrotourism, wine tourism, and industrial tourism. And I don't want to go to Turkey anymore, there are a lot of interesting options. And there is nothing to say about the success of our representatives in the agricultural sector at all. Here, indeed, sovereignty was achieved from the very beginning. So if you don't mind, we'll give you the floor.</p><p><strong>R. Batalov:</strong> Good afternoon, dear Vladimir Vladimirovich! I would like to sincerely congratulate everyone on the Great Victory Day.</p><p>As Alexey Yevgenyevich has already introduced me, I represent the Mantera Group of companies–-as you initially said, absolutely one hundred percent domestic, our own brand. We manage more than ten thousand hotel rooms, have been creating a modern all-season tourist infrastructure for more than ten years, create and manage theme parks such as Sochi Park in Sochi, ski resorts, wine production and agricultural tourism. We are actively developing the amazing village of Mandrogi, which you also visited, and where we once again invite you with pleasure. The famous Vodka Museum still operates there. I think it will be just the thing with pancakes.</p><p>By the end of 2024, more than seven million people have already visited our resorts, and this number is growing by about 10-15 percent annually. We note that the interest in domestic tourism has almost doubled in recent years. Of course, all this becomes possible thanks to your support, the support of the Government of the Russian Federation.</p><p>We are also actively developing agrotourism, enabling our citizens who have recently been living in a fairly urbanized society to touch the origins, see how wheat grows, how it is harvested, how bread is produced, tell our children about it and give them the opportunity to understand that it does not immediately appear on the shelves. Also show how cheese is made on farms and, accordingly, get acquainted with local products.</p><p>In particular, in 2024, interest in farm recreation increased by 70 percent, and visits to wineries increased by more than 40 percent. We also have our own winery, which is visited by more than 40 thousand people a year, and our guests often express a desire to stay on this farm, spend the night, have breakfast in the morning in the vineyards, respectively, watch and participate in the grape harvest as well.</p><p><em><strong>Unfortunately, we cannot give them this opportunity, as the land legislation contains a large number of mandatory prohibitive norms that do not allow them to adapt to the needs of business consumers. So we can't even build restaurants or guest houses there.</strong></em></p><p>We would like to propose to discuss and work out the issue of comprehensive amendments to the land legislation, the transition to regulation using dispositive structures and norms that will directly allow the construction of wine and rural tourism facilities on agricultural land. At the same time, what is very important, I want to note by limiting the area occupied by such buildings, and the area of the buildings themselves.</p><p>To be honest, this is not the first time this issue has been raised. A similar issue was discussed in Stavropol during your visit in March 2024, but, unfortunately, it is not being resolved quickly yet.</p><p><em><strong>We propose working together with the Government of the Russian Federation and the deputies to develop a formula in which farmers will be able to create a hospitality infrastructure on their land as a non-core activity, but at the same time the path for abuse will be closed. The balance of agricultural land will also be maintained and the possibilities for its use will be expanded.</strong></em></p><p>Mr Putin, we also started our agricultural business more than 30 years ago. We have a fairly large division and an ecosystem that unites both the agricultural business and tourism. And we, like no one else, are aware of the priority of preserving agricultural land, because land is our value and, as you always say, it is the basis of food sovereignty.</p><p>We also propose to revise the prohibitive norms in the land and related legislation, which currently hinder development, as you said at the very beginning, and remove these barriers, the removal of which would give an impetus to the development of entire sectors of the economy.</p><p>Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich,</p><p>We do not ask for money, we ask you to support this initiative, we will try to do the rest ourselves. Thank you.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin: </strong>Please tell me, what are the prohibitive norms that you are talking about revising?</p><p><strong>R. Batalov:</strong> We have also discussed it with our colleagues, and today we are saying in particular: one prohibitive rule is that we cannot build on agricultural land.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> I heard that, yes.</p><p><strong>R. Batalov:</strong> <em><strong>And there are a lot of such problems, because in agriculture, for example, we cannot build an elevator on this land, roughly speaking, we cannot build a processing process there. We have to look for land somewhere nearby that has already been transferred to a different category of land. But if we want to, it takes years to complete and is almost impossible.</strong></em></p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> I understood. I will now give the floor to Oksana Nikolaevna Lut, and then I will also express my opinion on this issue. Oksana Nikolaevna, please.</p><p><strong>O. Luth:</strong> Thank you very much.</p><p>Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich, Dear colleagues!</p><p>Indeed, I will confirm the words of Roman Alexandrovich, our agrotourism has been actively developing in recent years and is in demand among our citizens. Everyone is very interested to go, see how people are engaged in agriculture, and take part in it.</p><p>We really have a request from the business for a certain number of years on agrotourism and placement of accommodation objects on agricultural land and farmland. This question is complicated. We have allowed it by law, we have adopted amendments to the law, it is allowed to place farm houses on agricultural land, that is, for farmers to live, for people who are engaged in agriculture, with the accommodation of a certain number of guests.</p><p>The next topic is the guest houses themselves, in order to receive tourists on their farm, so that they can spend the night, stay. And here, given that we have a fairly large area of land and, in fact, land is our main means of production, of course, we are more sympathetic, probably, to the direction of faster land transfer. That is, not allowing construction, for example, on farmland, what Roman Alexandrovich said, we can't really build an elevator on farmland. It is necessary to grow products on farmland.</p><p>But at the same time, grain elevators can be built on agricultural land and land transfer is not necessary for this purpose. But nevertheless, it seems to us that the priority area for us is to make a faster translation. And indeed, now the transfer of land takes a long time, two or three years can take, based on all the plans of planning projects.</p><p>In April of this year, at the government commission on tourism, Dmitry Nikolaevich Chernyshenko considered this issue, and we were supported with the accelerated transfer of land from agricultural land, for example, to recreation. That is, for tourist services. This, according to our estimates, can reduce the transfer time to six months. In our opinion, this is a rather serious acceleration of the process.</p><p>And here we will continue on this path in any case. This is what concerns exactly agrotourism.</p><p>A separate area is, of course, enotourism. What is the special feature there? We have very little land suitable for growing grapes. Here Roman Alexandrovich talked about being able to build objects on suitable land. We have only 110 thousand hectares of them, but there may be a potential of 20-30 thousand more, which we can put back into the grape market.</p><p>That is, we have a shortage of such land, we have very little of it. And here, of course, we considered the possibility–-indeed, we had several conversations with our wine-growing community--of establishing very strict criteria in order to be able to place on such lands either the wineries themselves or places for tourists to stay.</p><p>The draft law is currently in the State Duma, but nevertheless we can go–-that is, we will continue to work in this direction. In our opinion, I will repeat once again, there should be very strict criteria so that there is no guile or this trick that you spoke about today. I would hate to lose probably one of our most valuable lands.</p><p>But, nevertheless, we can go along the second path, which I mentioned, within the framework of the entire agricultural land, that is, we can go along the accelerated version of the transfer. Here we will look at what we lose, what we gain, and make decisions. We will try to do it quickly. There are two ways to go, but, of course, for us, the classical priority is faster translation.</p><p>Thank you.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> I understand that for Roman Alexandrovich, as well as those who are engaged in this type of activity, it basically does not matter which way to go. The main thing is to achieve results. Or a quick transfer from agricultural land to land for settlements or recreation, or a construction permit on agricultural land. The main thing is that the result is there, so that they can work there.</p><p>As for the wine-growing lands…</p><p><strong>O. Lut:</strong> Vinogradoprigodnykh.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> Grapes are very suitable. I can't even comment here yet, because I don't really understand how much of this land is really there. Probably, it is of particular value to us, because we are still a northern country, and there are not so many regions where you can engage in winemaking, if you look at how much land there is in total. Therefore, please discuss this issue with the Ministry.</p><p>But if the Ministry of Agriculture believes that it is better to save agricultural land–-we are now talking about this, about agricultural land–-to transfer it from one category to another, than simply allow the construction of recreational facilities on agricultural land itself.</p><p>Okay, let's do this, but just help make it real, so that it's a real contribution, not a conversation from year to year. What is Roman Alexandrovich talking about? It takes a very long time.</p><p>How long will it take, Oksana Nikolaevna, to resolve this issue? I mean, there is already something in the Duma.</p><p><strong>Oleg Lut:</strong> It is precisely along the path of land transfer that I hope that with the support of parliamentarians, who will certainly have to change the same legislation, we could do this in the autumn session and adopt it this year. We would also like this very much, because we need to develop enotourism, we need to develop agricultural tourism.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> We need to work with deputies, [representatives of] business, and the Government-–the people there are not stupid, they will understand. And there are also, relatively speaking, their own lobbyists: someone lobbies for agricultural land, someone lobbies for recreation. It is necessary to gather everyone and make such a "Solomon's decision", to find this golden mean.</p><p>Just let's agree, until the end of the year is normal, satisfied?</p><p><strong>R. Batalov:</strong> With pleasure.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> Let's agree that we will finish this work by the end of the year.</p><p><strong>R. Batalov:</strong> Can I make a small comment? That's why we talked about finding this formula. We had one of the ideas: relatively speaking, the enterprise is 100 hectares, we allocate only ten acres of them, and on this territory it can be inconveniences, it can be planting, and so on. That is, we are not talking about what Oksana Nikolaevna says, to destroy or uproot vineyards. This is our bread, I apologize, too, we are fighting for it on the contrary.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin: </strong>I understand. Tkachev, a former minister, told me about this. He gave me the whole bald spot, called me repeatedly, I didn't want to talk about it, but Oksana Nikolaevna knows, I also talked to Dmitry Patrushev about this. But you are still in contact with the Government, with the Ministry, treat it carefully and talk about it. Ok?</p><p>As for the transfer of land, let's agree to close this issue by the end of the year.</p><p><strong>Alexander Repik:</strong> There are different types of tourism, and, of course, if you look at it, St. Petersburg is probably the main magnet of our tourism. The head of our St. Petersburg regional office is here with us today, and all other regional offices are in direct contact with us.</p><p>In fact, you probably know better than I do that in 1990 the whole of St. Petersburg was included in the UNESCO protected Area, and therefore the work in St. Petersburg on the restoration of buildings, in general, on working with cultural heritage sites is very difficult. And now Dmitry is concerned about this issue.</p><p><strong>Dmitry Panov:</strong> Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich,</p><p>As Alexey Yevgenyevich said, I represent the cultural capital of our country, and I head the corresponding sub-committee in Delovaya Rossiya for the preservation and adaptation of cultural heritage sites. Of course, this issue concerns me very seriously.</p><p>As you know, today, as part of your instructions, the Government of the country is developing a special program until 2045 for the restoration of cultural heritage sites. As part of it, at least a thousand cultural heritage sites should be restored by 2030. As you put it, they should get a second life.</p><p>For this purpose, a special program of concessional lending has already been created, which allows you to get financing for the restoration of cultural heritage sites at 7 percent, but only for 24 pilot projects that are located in eight regions of our country. We believe that cultural heritage in other regions of our country also deserves the opportunity to be admitted to this program, and we propose to extend it to all regions of our country.</p><p>At the same time, we propose to extend the functions of agency for the involvement of cultural heritage objects in economic turnover, which DOM.RF joint-stock company successfully engages in, to regional and even municipal objects. This is critical.</p><p>At the same time, the current mechanism for working with cultural heritage sites requires additional adjustment. The fact is that in some cases, the investment and recovery cycle reaches more than seven years for some objects. We believe that it is possible to significantly reduce these time costs if on the current most important resource for investors "Heritage.DOM. RF" will provide comprehensive information on the restrictions of different ranges that apply to cultural heritage sites, as well as on their investment attractiveness.</p><p>Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich,</p><p>We believe that these proposals can really contribute to the speedy restoration of the unique objects that are located in the regions of our country, as you have previously stressed, which will serve to strengthen our identity. And most importantly, they help attract even more private investors to this important process. We sincerely hope that you will support us in this. Thank you.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> I support you.</p><p><strong>Dmitry Panov:</strong> Thank you.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> I speak without irony. In fact, many objects simply "die", and businesses cannot invest money, because there are certain restrictions. There are people who believe that business should not be allowed at all. And what if we allow the objects to be destroyed completely?</p><p>The program you mentioned is at 7 percent, right?</p><p><strong>Dmitry Panov:</strong> From 7 percent.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> You know, your first proposal should be extended to all regions instead of eight–-this is due solely to budget restrictions. For all regions of Russia, this means that the number of objects will simply be increased and that's all. You just need to read this money.</p><p>Regarding the division into regional and municipal items-this is probably also true. Then, perhaps, decisions on this issue will be made more flexibly.</p><p>Who from the Government can comment on this? Maxim Gennadievich, can you say something about this?</p><p><strong>Mikhail Reshetnikov:</strong> Yes, Mr President, DOM. RF is indeed currently selecting these projects. Currently, 24 projects have been selected, the rate is 7 percent, and they are pilot projects. Our colleagues want to expand it, but here we are really within the budget allocations. Therefore, I think we need to put together different programs here.</p><p>For example, we also support hotels in the framework of "Tourism", and on your instructions, we also changed the parameters and significantly reduced the number of rooms, because, as a rule, cultural heritage sites are significantly smaller. For example, in the last selection, several, in my opinion 17, objects were included in all these selections as a result. And hotels in cultural heritage sites are also being restored, just through other mechanisms.</p><p>Therefore, I think we need to put all this together in a single program and, above all, devote more effort to optimizing the construction cycle, the restoration cycle. Now the Ministry of Culture is doing a lot of regulatory work, and laws have been developed, and so on. Maxim Stanislavovich had all these solutions assembled and worked out. They are all known, and we are implementing them now. I think that together we will promote this.</p><p>And coming back to the topic of financial easing, I think maybe we need to make a more flexible mechanism there, because we have either 7 [percent], when the rate is 26 now, and when the rate goes lower, I think some mechanism needs to be made more flexible, and then we will be able to cover a larger volume. Just think about how to adjust it. Give us an assignment, let's finish it.</p><p>But it is a fact that the demand for this program is very high. And the fact that there are big effects when these objects are involved in economic turnover, it will be so. We need to continue doing this.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin: </strong>It is very good that the demand is high. Because when we proposed this program, discussed it, just said that there would be no interest at all. We need to invest money, such restrictions, GEOP [state unified cloud platform] it works there, a lot of its own requirements, and then all this turns into the fact that the object is not very suitable for commercial purposes.</p><p>Nevertheless, people go and invest. We need to de-bureaucratize this issue as much as possible. Please work it out.</p><p>Marat Shakirzyanovich, in the framework of " DOM.RF " are there any innovations that can be successfully used?</p><p><strong>Mikhail Khusnullin:</strong> Mr President, we started working on this topic recently, on cultural heritage sites, so we will definitely support this idea. This is especially true for housing construction, as many of our cultural heritage buildings are now inhabited by residents. And thank you, by the way–-the Ministry of Culture and I have passed a law that allows us to renovate the housing stock there.</p><p>I would fully support Maxim Gennadyevich. Of course, we need to take a very serious look at the cost of restoration work, the cost and timing, because today they are increased from 30 to 200 percent compared to normal construction work.</p><p>I have already given this order to the Ministry of Construction. Together with the Ministry of Culture, we would look at security items and how much it costs to restore them. Then we will definitely be able to completely reduce the cost and speed up the restoration of these objects. There are a large number of them, and we are now actively working with the governors to identify such objects in the whole country. We have already identified thousands of unused objects that are in demand for businesses. We believe that this will be of great benefit to the regions and businesses. Thank you.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> Marat Shakirzyanovich, what could be the result of completing this work?</p><p><strong>M. Khusnullin:</strong> The result, Mr Putin, is that instead of unused or poorly used objects, we will have normal cultural heritage sites. This is important for tourism, for the appearance of cities, and for landscaping. That is, for all the advantages of this.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> Marat Shakirzyanovich, I understand that. It is clear why to do this. What decisions should be made so that this work can proceed in a different direction, which my colleague just mentioned?</p><p><strong>M. Khusnullin:</strong> First of all. We need to work out the cost and issue appropriate standards for reconstruction. Together with the Ministry of Culture, we must issue the relevant regulations. This is one thing.</p><p>The second is to reduce the investment and construction cycle. We have reported to you many times, and we are working very actively with Delovaya Rossiya here, with Alexey [Repik]. Let's see how much it will be possible to reduce the time of restoration. One of my colleagues said that up to seven years. In general, Vladimir Vladimirovich, you have set us the task that no more than three years from the idea to the completion of construction of any object, except for unique and complex ones. This is the target task that should be set-so that no more than three years from the idea to registration. This is our goal.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> Good. And when do you think, in what time frame you could work together with your colleagues and put the necessary end to it?</p><p><strong>Mikhail Khusnullin:</strong> I think that we will adopt the necessary regulations together with the Ministry of Culture by the end of the year.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin: </strong>Good.</p><p><strong>Tatyana Golikova:</strong> May I ask your permission, Mr President? I just can't [keep silent], because I gave instructions on this matter. Please excuse me.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> Tatyana Alekseyevna, you were ahead of me. I just wanted to say that we have Tatyana Alekseevna…</p><p><strong>Tatyana Golikova:</strong> I'm sorry to interrupt.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> No, no, I'm listening carefully. You are welcome.</p><p><strong>Tatyana Golikova:</strong> My colleague has already mentioned this small program for 24 objects, and the main problem of its expansion is, of course, subsidizing the interest rate. About these 24 objects, it is clear that there is a rate of 7 percent.</p><p>Ministry of Culture, "DOM." In today's conditions, they offer a rate of 9 percent, but for other objects—what we considered at the meeting separately with the Prime Minister is still 17 percent. Of course, this is a huge bet, this is understandable. But even here you can understand the Ministry of Finance.</p><p>Therefore, in accordance with your instructions, the Ministry of Culture, together with other colleagues, has prepared a program until 2045 to put the relevant cultural heritage sites in order (although it is still being approved). Until 2030, this program includes a thousand objects. We are currently coordinating financial parameters.</p><p>What Marat Shakirzyanovich says, he is absolutely right here, the standards of restoration work there require revision. Now, by May 15 of this year, that is, within a few days, the Ministry of Culture together with the Ministry of Construction should submit a roadmap for revising the relevant restoration standards so that we can complete this work in 2026. It is not easy, it is complex, but the revision of regulations will really shorten the investment cycle.</p><p>In addition, the Parliament is currently working with us on four draft laws. They are different – both governmental and parliamentary. They are aimed at reducing unnecessary administrative procedures in order to shorten the investment cycle. Some of them were adopted in the first reading in December 2024, and some of them were adopted in the first reading in March 2025.</p><p>We hope that these laws will now be finalized for adoption. This will already lead to a reduction in terms of time, because separate administrative procedures will be removed. Plus the revision of the relevant standards, which Marat Shakirzyanovich just spoke about and on which we are just now coordinating the "road map". And of course, the adoption of the program I mentioned and the coordination of certain financial parameters with the Ministry of Finance.</p><p>We currently have 13,975 monuments of various purposes in unsatisfactory condition, and our efforts are focused on them, in short.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> Tatyana Alekseyevna and Marat Shakirzyanovich, of course, we need to have long-term planning on any issue, and on this one as well. We need to understand where we are going, how fast we are going. Only in this case will we be able to plan in the medium term and build a longer-term one. And without this, it is difficult to work, otherwise there will be a mess just in the head and in the documents. Our plans for 2045 probably need to be done right, and that's exactly what it is.</p><p>But we understand that by 2045, either the donkey will die, or the emir will no longer control what happens in real life. Therefore, we still need to build what we see, what we can do, and what we can control now, based on our grandiose plans.</p><p>Therefore, if we agree that certain things must be adopted before the end of the year, standards for these works and so on, something else that will de-bureaucratize this complex process, but it is very important for the country, very important. These are all the objects of our material culture, they are what make up our identity, what we are really proud of, and what we can see with our own eyes, and our children will look at them.</p><p>So let's work together, please, until the end of this year. Let's work on the standards exactly, and on some other things that you just mentioned, exactly until the end of this year. What is impossible to do now, well, let's do it in 2026. But it is also necessary to plan everything.</p><p>I would ask Maxim Stanislavovich Oreshkin to note all this in the draft decisions accordingly. Ok?</p><p>Thank you very much.</p><p><strong>Alexey Repik: </strong>One of the people who stayed in the Kremlin, Mikhail Lvovich, is the one we started with today. In fact, this is our "Ikea" – five million sofas and beds are made from "Hoffa" in our homes.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> We'll need them, your beds, after the pancakes and Abrau-Durso products.</p><p><strong>M. Kuchment:</strong> Beds and mattresses. (Laughter.)</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> Please.</p><p><strong>Mikhail Kuchment:</strong> Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich,</p><p>I head the Delovaya Rossiya Retail Committee and am a co-founder of the Hoff company. This is the leading Russian retailer in the segment of furniture and household goods: today our products are available in every fifth house in the country.</p><p>I've been in the industry for 25 years. When we started our business, thanks to the open doors of our economy, foreign companies were already able to occupy the best niches, get preferences for development, and gain a foothold in the minds of consumers. We learned, adopted best practices and developed technologies, but most importantly, we were closer to our customers.</p><p>Thanks to this, we gained the trust of Russians and began to compete on equal terms.<em><strong> I say this with pride, because today Russian retail is not inferior in anything, and in many ways even surpasses foreign formats. </strong></em>I would like to take this opportunity to invite you personally to our hypermarkets to make sure that this is true.</p><p>The next big challenge was the high dependency on imports. That is why we developed our ecosystem of local producers, primarily small and medium-sized enterprises from small towns that grew together with us. As a result, today more than 90 percent of our turnover is made up of goods produced in Russia.</p><p>Then the pandemic came, and we lost 80 percent of our sales at one time, but thanks to the Government, we overcame these difficulties. Today we are facing a new challenge. The competitive field has changed: due to the opportunities of online platforms, entrepreneurs, including small manufacturing businesses, which should certainly be supported, have increased their activity and gained much wider access to consumers.</p><p>However, the same access was granted to unscrupulous companies that create a situation of tax arbitration. Being on preferential tax regimes, they do not pay VAT, applying business fragmentation practices, while previously they were limited only to non-network retail and markets.</p><p>Here I would like to thank the Government separately for the decision to introduce working VAT for entrepreneurs on the Simplified Tax system. This is the right step, which significantly limits the possibilities for tax schemes. But unfortunately, there is still a possibility of abuse in the trade.</p><p>Some market participants, taking advantage of the benefits, not only evade taxes, but also dump due to illegal importation of goods or outright counterfeit. It is obvious that such companies are not interested in either increasing productivity or digitalization.</p><p>Vladimir Vladimirovich, we are not talking about imbalances between offline and online sales channels. We are no longer traditional retail, but in fact, the same online companies that develop their own stores, which, of course, improve the overall customer experience. Rather, we are talking about additional tuning of the system itself, which preserves the possibility of various abuses by companies that use, among other things, a huge e-commerce resource.</p><p>Therefore, we ask you to instruct the Government to work out a further reduction in the threshold at which trading companies start paying turnover VAT and the gradual abolition of the USN regime in trade. At the same time, it is necessary to maintain preferential treatment for manufacturing companies, the service sector and non-chain stores, where these measures really work as growth points. We stand for equal conditions and payment of taxes by all market participants.</p><p>Thank you very much.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin: </strong>You know, you've just said so yourself. Of course, e-commerce is a separate big business, this is understandable, and it is developing, and thank God. Why? Because people in small localities, anywhere, all over the country, and in large ones, too, often use these services, because it is faster, more efficient, and so on. And this needs to be supported, and we will do it, without any doubt.</p><p>If this is due to the fact–-and this is true, I agree with you, we observe it, and the customs registers, and other bodies, including fiscal ones--that these tools are used for" gray " imports, in fact, and those who actually do nothing enjoy benefits they don't produce it here, but only import some things there, and they don't pay the corresponding taxes. That is, there is nothing good here from the point of view of supporting a domestic manufacturer. These are obvious things.</p><p>I think the head of the Russian Tax Service is in touch with us. Yes, there is?</p><p><strong>Dmitry Yegorov:</strong> Yes, Vladimir Vyacheslavovich.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> Daniil Vyacheslavovich, please comment.</p><p><strong>Dmitry Yegorov:</strong> Good afternoon!</p><p>You know, you are absolutely right to say that we are seeing quite serious changes in the structure of the economy, including in sales models. I remember when we started the project with cash registers, we had mostly the largest players, it was offline retail. Now everything has completely changed.</p><p>And here, I think, the first thing that is important is that we took a very serious step that year. First. On the basis of your instructions to the Federal Assembly, we have drawn up norms that were supported by the legislators, and we have declared an amnesty for those who used the division. And at the same time, we made a smoother, so-called simplified tax regime. The total rate can now be applied from 250 to 450 million rubles of revenue.</p><p>And at the same time, as a colleague correctly said, we have introduced a value-added tax for those over 60 [million]. This is the stage at which we can actually observe how the competitive field will level out. If we see significant changes and distortions in the behavior of taxpayers up to 60 million rubles, then, of course, it will also be possible to make a decision there.</p><p>I would not be in a hurry to immediately agree with this. Why?<em><strong> Because, probably, it would not be entirely correct to base the entire tax policy solely on the behavior of bad [taxpayers].</strong></em> Most of our taxpayers are definitely conscientious, and do not split up, and conduct a transparent, understandable business. These distortions, of course, exist, and we are working with them. This is the first part.</p><p>And the second one. As soon as we see and offer our colleagues from the Ministry of Finance, Anton Germanovich, the data on which we will base our tax forecasts, then, in fact, the Ministry of Finance will decide whether to move towards lowering the thresholds for value-added tax.</p><p>Thank you very much.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> You said that you should not make any sudden moves based only on the behavior of those who abuse the current conditions, and we are working with them. And how?</p><p><strong>Dmitry Yegorov:</strong> So it's the first one. If we talk directly about those who work through online platforms, we are now in a state of experiment, where we exchange data with the main online platforms of the country, because our colleagues also have quite serious data on how their customers work when selling goods through them. Thus, we will be able to monitor these sales, and when identical products, identical IP addresses, there are many, many indicators, when they match, we will actually be able to influence these taxpayers--so carefully, in order not to eliminate them, but before they gain a large, conditionally, mass of sales, we adjusted and switched to the general tax system. This is the first one.</p><p>Second. As I have already said, there is now fragmentation, since our value-added tax is now from 60 million, and not as in the simplified tax system it was from 250 million, the motivation for fragmentation itself is no longer so pronounced. That is, now it will only need to be done in revenue of up to 60 million rubles. Naturally, it will be much easier for us to observe in this part than when it comes to companies with large volumes.</p><p>And the last one is probably also worth noting. Today we offer tax regimes, in particular, auto-USN, on the basis of which we do tax calculations for taxpayers. This is probably the line that is available today. This is what applies to taxes.</p><p>As for counterfeit goods, this is a separate issue, and it should probably be discussed separately. It's not really a tax issue.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> The fact is that counterfeit goods also take on complex forms. There is still a need to understand: here he [Hoff] makes these mattresses and beds, but he knows that it is he who makes them, and someone brings them in, makes them up. This is the same as in our wine industry: tankers brought wine materials and bottled them, conditionally, like Kuban wine. What kind of Kuban wine? What does this have to do with it? It's the same with beds, actually. We need to deal with this too. I take it that's the case?"</p><p><strong>Mikhail Kuchment:</strong> Yes.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> So what you just said, Daniil Vyacheslavovich said, does that suit you? Or do you still insist on some more essential changes?</p><p><strong>Mikhail Kuchment:</strong> I think we would like to see how the experiment is going on on online platforms, and really understand what results this can lead to. There are certainly tools available to identify such unscrupulous participants.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> I understand, yes. Therefore, I also have a request to the Administration. Maxim Stanislavovich [Oreshkin], when you are going to issue an order, be sure to fix this moment. So that it does not hang in the air, does not fly away anywhere, but that it is in the field of our attention: in the field of attention of the Government, the Tax Service, and, accordingly, with the participation of business itself.</p><p><strong>Mikhail Kuchment:</strong> Yes. I hope that when the data is available, we can look at it together…</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> Yes, that's how we need to organize all this work. Thank you.</p><p>We are completing our work. Before that, it would be possible and useful to have someone from the audience [speak]. Is there a microphone in there?</p><p><strong>A. Repik:</strong> Of course.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> On our screen in the hall of the Situation Center, I see Sevastopol, Kabardino-Balkaria.…</p><p><strong>A. Repik:</strong> All regions, all 89 subjects.</p><p><strong>Vladimir</strong> Putin: We are unlikely to be able to hear all this today. Let's ask a couple of questions from the audience, then from the regions. </p><p><strong>Alexey Repik:</strong> Then maybe we should start with the hall. Ekaterina Lobacheva was preparing for a very important issue for us. I'm talking about inclusion and support for disabled people.</p><p><strong>Elena Lobacheva:</strong> Good afternoon!</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> Good morning.</p><p><strong>E. Lobacheva: </strong>Vladimir Vladimirovich, good afternoon! Thank you very much. It was very difficult to remain silent while we discussed trade, because I represent X5, the largest grocery chain in the country–-Pyaterochka, Perekrestok and Chizhik. We are one of the largest employers today. We employ more than 430,000 people. Therefore, the issue of involving people with disabilities in employment is very important for us.</p><p>We have long been aware that creating an inclusive environment both inside stores for our customers and on our infrastructure in general, as well as for our employees, is, in fact, our task. And since 2016, we have been engaged in inclusive employment in various specialties.</p><p>These include sales clerks, sales floor administrators, and store managers. Of course, IT office staff to a greater extent and, of course, management positions. And we can see how this affects the development of the company's internal culture. This increases the involvement of all colleagues, mutual assistance and complicity, and now this is very important.</p><p>And in practice, we see what difficulties both companies and candidates face when hiring and adapting. Although now we understand that we have a large personnel deficit and, Mr Putin, this is a huge talent pool for the whole country.</p><p><em><strong>Currently, we have approximately 11 million disabled people, including more than four million disabled people of working age and eligible for inclusion.</strong></em> According to MSU estimates, if we could employ everyone, GDP per capita could be increased by 0.5 percentage points, but today we have employed no more than 27.5 percent. In fact, in practice, both companies experience quite high costs for employment and adaptation, and for the candidates themselves, sometimes there is a fear of socialization and there is a risk of losing their financial situation, because part of the regional payments for employment is stopped.</p><p>The State is already doing a lot to promote inclusive employment. And we ask you to support additional measures that we see in practice. First of all, we ask you to support free retraining and higher education in the profession that is currently in demand, regardless of the first education you received. And now there is a national project "Personnel", which also has retraining and retraining, and we ask you to include relevant specialties in trade.</p><p>Secondly, to develop the institution of social coordinators. This will help people choose this sought-after profession and then be accompanied during the first months of their employment. For them, this creates additional comfort.</p><p>We ask you to consider the possibility of preserving material security for people after employment, especially for those who have special merits for the Fatherland, so that again, they have psychological comfort and opportunities, and the desire to get involved in employment.</p><p>And the last one. It is still possible to consider reducing insurance payments only for the wages of employed disabled people. We're not talking about the company as a whole. At least for the first time, as part of a pilot project, this will allow companies to reduce their financial burden on their employment and adaptation and increase the motivation of businesses to employ disabled people.</p><p>Of course, I understand that now Anton Germanovich will say that this is a loss of income. But if this "pilot" shows its success, then, perhaps, as a result of its implementation, we will see increased numbers of employed disabled people and in absolute terms, the figures for paying insurance premiums will be higher.</p><p>And we--the X5 company and, in principle, trading companies--are ready to be participants in all experiments and scale all these practices in the future.</p><p>Thank you very much.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> Yes, you said correctly about the reduction of contributions to insurance funds, because the insurance funds are just contributions to solve social problems, so to speak. Although, probably, for a while it would be possible to save it.</p><p>As for getting a free second education, regardless of getting the first one. We have discussed this issue and it seems that we have even decided on it, and this issue was repeatedly discussed at meetings with the Government. The same applies to social coordinators and maintaining social support after employment. We have repeatedly discussed these issues at the Government level.</p><p>Tatyana Alekseevna, what condition is this in?</p><p><strong>Tatyana Golikova:</strong> Vladimir Vladimirovich! Colleagues!</p><p>You remember quite correctly that everything related to education is provided for in Article 79 of the Law "On Education", and we have the right to receive an education. My colleague was right about the possibility of retraining.</p><p>In addition, our new national human resources project provides for subsidizing jobs for people with disabilities. If they are participants in a special military operation, these are virtually all disability groups that they have, and appropriate financial resources are provided for the adaptation of jobs, 200 thousand per workplace. We are currently implementing this procedure with the regions.</p><p>Now, as for the reduction of insurance premiums. You know that this kind of reduction should be compensated by the federal budget, as my colleague said correctly. But last year, a different decision was made regarding compensation. Today, these expenses are assigned to the Social Fund, and strictly speaking, this means that we should subsidize reduced tariffs with the same social expenses. In other words, this is, in fact, a hidden subsidy of trade.</p><p>But I'm starting from something else.<em><strong> We still have a socially responsible business. It turns out that the business is socially responsible, but if you need to hire people with disabilities, then the state should provide some benefits to socially responsible businesses.</strong></em></p><p>Nevertheless, I believe that we have recently made a rather serious set of decisions, and from January 1, 2025, we launched new solutions in order to expand employment opportunities for people with disabilities. And now, in this sense, there is no need to make a decision on reducing, even temporarily, insurance premiums. Because let me remind you that in the system of compulsory social insurance, we still have a rule that the contributions paid by employers form the pension rights of citizens, including those people we want to get a job, who currently have health restrictions.</p><p>Therefore, I do not share the proposal of my colleagues regarding reducing insurance premiums, even in the pilot mode, today, because this is the source of forming pension rights. As for everything related to education, retraining, I repeat, everything related to subsidizing jobs and employment, we have all these measures in place, and we are implementing them.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> That is why I started with this and said that we have repeatedly discussed these issues with the Government, and decisions have been made. I just had a question. They may not be implemented in some way, but they are still being implemented, including with regard to obtaining a second education.</p><p>As for the expenses related to insurance and social funds, the issue is very subtle. Despite the fact that Tatyana Alekseevna questioned the social orientation of Russian business, I still think that in this discussion of such polemics, we see that our business, especially in recent years, is built both patriotically and socially meets the requirements of today.</p><p>But here, of course, we cannot allow any imbalances, because the budget is also socially oriented. We also use the budget of social funds to solve the main issues related to social security of citizens in the broadest sense of the word. So let's agree on this here. Still, it will be necessary to analyze what can be done additionally from what has already been done regarding the employment of people with disabilities.</p><p>Tatyana Alekseyevna knows this very well, and we have already talked about it a hundred times, perhaps even more: <em><strong>the employment of people with disabilities is a key moment for ensuring the normal life of these people, our citizens. Because when a person works, it radically changes their life, this is an obvious thing, this is one of the most important issues that we must address. From this point of view, let's now analyze the issues that were just raised by a colleague from the audience.</strong></em></p><p>Thank you.</p><p><strong>A. Repik:</strong> And maybe then it resonates with the words of Tatyana Alekseevna. We have Sergey Kolesnikov there, who does exactly the opposite–-he just wants to briefly focus on unpaid contributions from the self-employed and representatives of individual entrepreneurs.</p><p><strong>Sergey Kolesnikov:</strong> Good afternoon, Mr President! Dear colleagues!</p><p>I would like to touch on the competition of companies for personnel, which is still lacking, and experts note that the shortage of personnel is from two to four million [people] in Russia.</p><p>As you know, the law on the self-employed has been in force since November 2018, and this law has allowed millions of citizens to come out of the shadows and pay taxes, and the state has received billions of rubles in tax revenues. Moreover, Russian citizens, in particular, probably every resident of large cities, began to receive high-quality, safe and cheap services, in particular, self-employed drivers through Yandex.Taxi service.</p><p>All this shows that the example is successful, but there is also a fly in the ointment. Companies began to attract self-employed labor instead of hired labor, and since there is tax arbitration, hired labor costs the company 43 percent (30 percent – social tax, 13 percent-personal income tax), while self-employed labor costs companies only six percent.</p><p><em><strong>The self-employed, by the way, Vladimir Vladimirovich, do not pay social taxes and do not pay personal income tax.</strong></em> So when I see a young driver and a veteran of the SVO, of course, my heart belongs to Ekaterina [Lobacheva] here, because I see these pictures and it is clear that for some reason one category does not pay, and the other pays.</p><p>In this sense, there is still competition for personnel. It is clear that companies that pay 43 percent and companies that pay six percent are in unequal competition. <em><strong>Therefore, please: strengthen prevention and supervision of companies that use civil rights and attract self-employed individual entrepreneurs instead of hired labor.</strong></em></p><p>Thank you very much.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> As you know, when we made a decision on self-employed and individual entrepreneurs, there were a lot of disputes. Will it work at all, will we be able to achieve the goal that we set for ourselves, namely, the goal of "whitewashing" this business, will people register, will they believe the steps that the state is taking?</p><p>In general, everything works out, yes. But, of course, the costs you mentioned were also probably unavoidable.</p><p>I would ask Reshetnikov, the Minister of Economic Development – [the Ministry of Economic Development] took an active part, of course, in this work, this is their field of activity – to comment.</p><p>Please, Maxim Gennadievich.</p><p><strong>Mikhail Reshetnikov:</strong> Mr President, this is a difficult question. Indeed, we started with the legalization of the self-employed, and we have made a giant step forward here.</p><p>But what's going on right now? We have a very different level of tax burden when purchasing labor under different, let's say, tax schemes and tax regimes. That is, in our country, when labor is bought as labor, as labor relations, they pay personal income tax and then pay social contributions.</p><p>When we, for example, buy labor as self-employed, through the self-employed, through the civil law form, the rate is from four to six percent. At the same time, they can also buy labor from individual entrepreneurs–-we have quite a lot of individual entrepreneurs without employees. That is, in fact, these are the same civil-legal relations that are very difficult to separate from labor relations in some cases, and there may even be one percent.</p><p>That is why we are also holding discussions with the Ministry of Finance and the Tax Service. We have a common opinion that we still need to normalize this system somehow. At least so that legal entities, when they buy labor in various forms, still have these various distortions, let's say, less. Because when we introduced the self-employed, we still introduced them in terms of "physics to physicists". And when our legal entities start hiring self-employed people in large volumes, there are quite a lot of signs of transformation of labor relations.</p><p>What have we done now? We have now agreed with Rostrud and the Ministry of Labor on the criteria for inspections through Rostrud in order to identify those companies that actually, let's say, buy labor, but under the guise of these tax regimes. This is the first part. We are currently experimenting with these checks, and we have also discussed them with the business community. Let's look at the results for the first quarter.</p><p>And we still need to go out to unify tax regimes and, most likely, somehow carefully discourage legal entities that actually acquire labor under the guise of these different tax regimes. Why do I think we should do this now? Because our economy is labor-deficient.</p><p>And of course, this factor of manipulation, let's say, and optimization, the use of different tax regimes, and the reduction of labor taxation is, on the one hand, what causes Tatyana Alekseevna a lot of problems, because a fairly large amount of social contributions is simply underpaid. <em><strong>On the other hand, this is what really hinders the growth of labor productivity in the economy. Because if it is possible to use labor inefficiently at the expense of underpaying taxes, it is wrong, it reduces the overall efficiency of our economy.</strong></em></p><p>Therefore, we understand how sensitive this topic is, and we will discuss options together with the business community, but we believe that the time is slowly coming up to resolve these issues. We will offer a solution.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin: </strong>OK, and that's probably the right thing to do. <em><strong>But in no case should we take steps that would drive the self-employed back into the shadows. </strong></em>You need to be very careful here.</p><p>Anton Olegovich, can you add something?</p><p><strong>Alexey Kotyakov:</strong> Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich,</p><p>Indeed, today we have developed eleven criteria that indicate that there may be a fact of substitution of labor relations with the tax regime of the self-employed.</p><p>Together with the Federal Tax Service, we analyzed the situation in such enterprises based on the information available in the Federal Tax Service. Today, we already have a certain list of enterprises that are being analyzed under the pilot regime, and we are holding consultations together with the Prosecutor General's Office and Rostrud.</p><p>Accordingly, we can already see that, taking into account the consultations that we hold with individual enterprises, our colleagues are paying attention, let's say, to the feasibility of switching to traditional labor relations–-namely, legalization and their transition to the standard for paying the full amount of tax deductions in the amount of 43 percent.</p><p>That is why we have started this work, and I hope that in this particular case it will allow us to correct these distortions that are currently present in the system of taxation of labor relations and will form a correct understanding on the part of business and the authorities regarding the regulation of this area.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin: </strong>Good. Just please pay attention to the comments that I made. These steps should not drive anyone back into the "gray zone". Carefully.</p><p>Colleagues, I said that we have some regions–-pictures on the screen in the Situation Room, so I named them if you have any questions, suggestions and ideas.</p><p>Sevastopol, please.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Shmelkov:</strong> Good afternoon, colleagues!</p><p>Vladimir Vladimirovich, thank you very much for giving me the floor. Today, in principle, when we were preparing for this forum, we prepared questions. Today, two questions that we were preparing have already been raised.</p><p>The first is the question of giving an opportunity to our farmers, including viticulturists. You know that the city of Sevastopol is a hero city, but it is also a resort city, and a city that is very seriously engaged in winemaking.</p><p>In our Sevastopol terroir there are about 43 entrepreneurs who are engaged in winemaking issues. And not all of them, of course, but many of them have long dreamed of creating certain places where they could meet their guests, talk about how they went from the beginning of laying grapes to the moment they received the finished product, give people the opportunity to try their product and, let's just say, so that people can stay, as a colleague said, meet the dawn in the morning and enjoy the morning Crimea.</p><p>We have heard the answer to this question. Many thanks to Delovaya Rossiya ,the Government, and you, Mr Putin, for raising these issues.</p><p>But also what concerns hospitality. In the city of Sevastopol, too, there are a lot of monuments of cultural heritage, I would like them to have an attractive appearance. And the city's businessmen would like to invest in these buildings and structures. We have also already heard the answer to this question, and I would like to thank you again for the opportunity to say that these questions also concern our hero city.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> Thank you very much.</p><p>Donetsk, please.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Fomenko:</strong> Good afternoon, Mr President.</p><p>The development of Novorossiya and increasing economic connectivity with other regions of the Russian Federation is impossible without a comprehensive development of transport and logistics infrastructure. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the former authorities almost did not invest in it. Novorossiya needs to be restored, providing logistics of necessary materials, industrial and agricultural products, and consumer goods by rail.<em><strong> To do this, we need to build modern transport and logistics centers.</strong></em></p><p>There are two problems here. First, the legal status of land plots in Novorossiya is often not regulated. It is not clear who owned the land before 2014, because there is no access to the Ukrainian state register of real estate in the DPR. <em><strong>It is necessary to minimize the risk of legal uncertainty and protect the interests of investors in the situation of possible claims from persons with Ukrainian property documents.</strong></em></p><p>Secondly, changes in the type of permitted use of a land plot require extensive work to bring it in line with the purpose of building a shopping mall. And for the construction of priority objects, we need an accelerated procedure for assigning VRI to the corresponding land plots. Please consider this possibility. This will greatly accelerate the recovery and development of the entire Novorossiya region.</p><p>Thank you very much.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin:</strong> Yes, thanks. Marat Shakirzyanovich and I have discussed this issue many times, and it is true that these issues are so subtle, but they need to be addressed, I agree. Because it hinders development.</p><p>Marat Shakirzyanovich, can you add something here?</p><p><strong>Mikhail Khusnullin:</strong> Yes, Mr Putin, we are indeed going through a full inventory of land plots. We will do most of our work in this area by the end of the year.</p><p>We have now worked out an additional mechanism for expedited registration of real estate and land plots. We hear this question on a weekly basis at the working group. Therefore, if a colleague really wants to build, we invite them, and we will accompany them manually. Moreover, we have adopted a decision and a law on a free economic zone, which provides additional benefits. Today, more than 300 participants have already registered in this free economic zone.</p><p>Taking this opportunity, Mr President, given that the entire business community is here, I invite all my colleagues to invest in Novorossiya. There are excellent opportunities for growth, there is nothing to be afraid of there. If two or three years ago we didn't have enough applicants there, now there are more and more applicants. Mr Putin, we will regulate all land and legal relations by the end of the year with regulatory acts.</p><p>Thank you.</p><p><strong>Vladimir Putin: </strong>Good.</p><p>Marat Shakirzyanovich said that he invites everyone to invest. Yes, indeed, there is something to invest in, and the land there is very fertile in terms of agriculture, and fertile in terms of tourism development–-the Azov Sea region and so on. There are a lot of very interesting components, including the preferential mortgage rate remains and so on. There is a lot to work on here, and the conditions are really attractive.</p><p>Marat Shakirzyanovich, please help the colleague who asked the question. You suggested it yourself in manual mode, but I would like to work out general criteria related to the use of land and the status of this land without manual mode. I understand that this is not easy to do, I understand. But still, you and I have indeed approached this projectile many times, and you have repeatedly reported to me.</p><p>Now I will not go into the nuances associated with documents that are not available, or something else. But we need to work out a common order, a common one, and we need to de-bureaucratize it as much as possible, regardless of what happened before. We must proceed from what we have now and what the country and these regions we are talking about are interested in.</p><p>Then I will ask Maxim Stanislavovich to also make sure to note this in the assignment, so that nothing is forgotten, does not hang up. There is a lot of turnover, but we must not only work on this, but also make a final decision.</p><p>So, we need to slowly complete our event. I hope that it was interesting for everyone who took part in it. First of all, I mean, of course, representatives of business. Our colleagues from the Government have expressed their views on the issues that you have raised. And that's what's bothering you. And I very much hope that our event today will benefit business development, and our future joint work will have a significant impact on maintaining economic growth and its quality.</p><p>We are talking about a soft landing in order to ensure development, as I said at the beginning of our event, within the framework of observing macroeconomic indicators, because they are the basis for development. It is also very difficult for us... you to work very hard without bringing inflationary processes to the proper state, to the target indicators, because this does not allow us to plan long-term investments and complicates the work in the most significant way.</p><p>We did a lot of things together, otherwise there would not have been 4.1 percent growth in the year before last and 4.3 percent in [last] year. We all basically understand everything, so to speak, we know where this growth is coming from. And this is not only the military-industrial complex. Everyone's talking: MIC, MIC. Yes, the military-industrial complex has made a significant contribution to the development of economic growth rates, but not only the military-industrial complex, not only the defense industry, but everything that we have just discussed here. This is not the defense industry. Winemaking–-what does the military-industrial complex have to do with it? Your destination is hospitality, high technology, and so on. This is all a huge contribution to the development of the economy.</p><p>And we must make extremely pragmatic decisions. I have already said it, and I will repeat it again: we have shown good growth rates in previous years. And what happened to those who tried to interfere with us and harmed themselves in an effort to prevent us? We have a very good saying among the people: "Do not dig another hole, you will fall into it yourself." The United States, in spite of everything, acts very pragmatically, they do not forget themselves. <em><strong>We still supply nuclear fuel to the United States–-and nothing.</strong></em> Here you are laughing, but it's true. Why? But because it is profitable. And that's right, and well done. And their economic growth is so significant, quite decent for them. Not 4.3, but still very decent. And Europe's major economies actually fell into recession.</p><p>Here is the result. And we must also act very pragmatically at every step<em><strong>. And we need to do it together. Business, here the administration, labor collectives, as I said. Listen to them, please listen to people, it is always useful.</strong></em></p><p>And, of course, the Government, the Central Bank. In general, our work is structured in this way. At the end of last year, we held a regular meeting with the business community. Right there, my colleagues were telling me what they were asking me to pay attention to. And the government as a whole is following this path. Therefore, we need feedback. <em><strong>In this case, today's event is the feedback that we are trying to achieve in order to get a common result for the benefit of Russia.</strong></em></p><p>Thank you very much. Success. Thank you, thank you very much. Good luck. [My Emphasis]</p></blockquote><p>Those who made it to the end learned quite a lot about Russia and its business ethics along with its ongoing war with inflation while doing its utmost to better Russian lives through development. Finding out how the problem of the Black/Gray Economy was solved was also worth it for those of us trying to learn more about Russia’s social development: Bringing that large class of people into Russian social normality was very important. Yet, we read that Russian law still needs to further evolve as societal and business problems continue to be revealed. Alexey Repik’s not so subtle announcement that inflation “almost stopped last week” was a surprise and lends credence to the worry that the economy will freeze, although Putin’s confident the landing will be soft. I expect a report on the Sowing Season soon so I can expand on it by writing about Russia’s Ag sector. For American readers: Can you imagine the head of Kroger meeting with Trump to ask for legislation beneficial for the educating for the workforce and hiring of disabled people? Russia’s disabled population is about 7% based on the number provided, with four million that could be added to the workforce. One of the best ways to judge a nation and its people is to look at how they treat the aged and disabled. IMO, it’s hard to beat Russia for its morality on those issues. I recall the utter heartlessness (genocidal IMO) treatment of Russian pensioners during the 1990s Rape of Russia—millions died hungry and cold. At the end, IMO Yeltsin was haunted by those ghosts. The 1990s memory IMO provides much motivation for Russians—Never Again!</p><p>*<br>*<br>*<br><em>Like what you’ve been reading at Karlof1’s Substack? Then please consider subscribing and choosing to make a <strong>monthly/yearly pledge</strong> to enable my efforts in this challenging realm. Thank You!</em></p><p></p><p data-attrs='{"url":"https://karlof1.substack.com/subscribe?","text":"Subscribe now","action":null,"class":null}' data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton" data-sanitized-class="button-wrapper"><a href="https://karlof1.substack.com/subscribe?" data-sanitized-class="button primary"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p></p><p>   <strong> </strong></p>

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