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  4.    <title>ZeroHedge News</title>
  5.    <link>https://www.zerohedge.com</link>
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  7.    <language>en</language>
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  9.    <item>
  10.  <title>Supreme Court Justice Sotomayor Asks Lawyers To 'Stand Up' And 'Fight'</title>
  11.  <link>https://www.zerohedge.com/political/supreme-court-justice-sotomayor-asks-lawyers-stand-and-fight</link>
  12.  <description>&lt;span property="schema:name" class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden"&gt;Supreme Court Justice Sotomayor Asks Lawyers To 'Stand Up' And 'Fight'&lt;/span&gt;
  13.  
  14.            &lt;div property="schema:text" class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/supreme-court-justice-sotomayor-asks-lawyers-to-stand-up-and-fight-5855308?utm_source=partner&amp;utm_campaign=ZeroHedge"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Authored by Matthew Vadum via The Epoch Times,&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  15.  
  16. &lt;p&gt;Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor told a lawyers’ conference that amid escalating criticism in the nation of some federal judges, &lt;strong&gt;lawyers need to “stand up” and “fight this fight.”&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  17.  
  18. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/image%20-%202025-05-10T223715.294.jpg?itok=czqBKaQs" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/image%20-%202025-05-10T223715.294.jpg?itok=czqBKaQs"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="7bc2db51-080a-440d-9206-4b22869504b6" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="333" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/image%20-%202025-05-10T223715.294.jpg?itok=czqBKaQs" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  19.  
  20. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Sotomayor made the comments during an on-stage conversation on May 8 at an American Bar Association conference at the Smithsonian Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  21.  
  22. &lt;p&gt;The remarks by Sotomayor came after President Donald Trump, members of his administration, and Republicans in Congress have repeatedly criticized court rulings in recent months that have blocked or delayed the president’s agenda. Trump and some lawmakers have accused some judges of overstepping their authority through such rulings and called for them to be impeached.&lt;/p&gt;
  23.  
  24. &lt;p&gt;Several federal judges have said the Trump administration has not complied with various court orders on immigration enforcement, federal spending, the firing of government employees, and foreign aid. The administration denies that it disobeyed the orders.&lt;/p&gt;
  25.  
  26. &lt;p&gt;Sotomayor did not identify Trump or other officeholders who have criticized judges’ rulings by name.&lt;/p&gt;
  27.  
  28. &lt;blockquote&gt;
  29. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;“Our job is to stand up for people who can’t do it themselves. And our job is to be the champion of lost causes,” &lt;/strong&gt;said the associate justice who joined the Supreme Court in 2009 after being nominated by President Barack Obama.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  30.  
  31. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;“But right now, we can’t lose the battles we are facing. And we need trained and passionate and committed lawyers to fight this fight.”&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  32.  
  33. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;“With all the uncertainty that exists at this moment, this is our time to stand up and be heard. For me, being here with you is an act of solidarity,” &lt;/strong&gt;Sotomayor &lt;a href="https://www.americanbar.org/news/abanews/aba-news-archives/2025/05/justice-sotomayor-time-to-stand-up/"&gt;added&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  34. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  35.  
  36. &lt;p&gt;Sotomayor also praised “diversity,” which she said “is important for its own sake because it inspires everyone to believe that it’s possible for them to be in a position to help others.”&lt;/p&gt;
  37.  
  38. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;“I am more grateful that in my role as a public servant, I can continue to serve all communities and represent America as the very best version of itself,”&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt; she said.&lt;/p&gt;
  39.  
  40. &lt;p&gt;Sotomayor’s comments came after two of her colleagues on the high court had also recently made public statements directed at the criticism of judges.&lt;/p&gt;
  41.  
  42. &lt;p&gt;On May 7, Chief Justice John Roberts said an independent judiciary was needed to check the power of the president and Congress.&lt;/p&gt;
  43.  
  44. &lt;p&gt;Roberts did not mention Trump or other officeholders by name during his &lt;a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/chief-justice-roberts-says-judicial-independence-is-key-to-checking-congress-and-the-president-5853949"&gt;comments&lt;/a&gt; that came during a visit to his birthplace of Buffalo, New York.&lt;/p&gt;
  45.  
  46. &lt;p&gt;Judicial independence is “the only real political-science innovation in our Constitution,” said Roberts, who became chief justice in 2005 after being nominated by President George W. Bush.&lt;/p&gt;
  47.  
  48. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;In the Constitution, “the judiciary is a co-equal branch of government, separate from the others, with the authority to interpret the Constitution as law and strike down ... acts of Congress or acts of the president,” he said.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  49.  
  50. &lt;p&gt;“And that innovation doesn’t work if ... the judiciary is not independent. Its job is to ... check the excesses of Congress or of the executive, and that does require a degree of independence.”&lt;/p&gt;
  51.  
  52. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Roberts also said, “impeachment is not how you register disagreement with [judicial] decisions.”&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  53.  
  54. &lt;p&gt;“That’s what we’re there for,” he said, in reference to the appeals process.&lt;/p&gt;
  55.  
  56. &lt;p&gt;On May 1, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson said that recent criticisms of judges are “attacks on our democracy.”&lt;/p&gt;
  57.  
  58. &lt;p&gt;Jackson was apparently &lt;a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/supreme-court-justice-jackson-says-trumps-criticisms-of-judges-are-attacks-on-our-democracy-5851456"&gt;commenting&lt;/a&gt; on Trump’s rhetorical barrages against some judges, although she did not specifically mention the president during her speech and instead spoke about “the elephant in the room.”&lt;/p&gt;
  59.  
  60. &lt;blockquote&gt;
  61. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;“The attacks are not random. They seem designed to intimidate those of us who serve in this critical capacity,” Jackson said at a judicial conference in Puerto Rico.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  62.  
  63. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;“The threats and harassment are attacks on our democracy, on our system of government. And they ultimately risk undermining our Constitution and the rule of law.”&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  64. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  65.  
  66. &lt;p&gt;Jackson took her seat on the high court in June 2022 after being nominated by President Joe Biden.&lt;/p&gt;
  67. &lt;/div&gt;
  68.      &lt;span rel="schema:author" class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"&gt;&lt;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="" class="username" xml:lang=""&gt;Tyler Durden&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
  69. &lt;span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-05-11T18:15:00+00:00" class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"&gt;Sun, 05/11/2025 - 14:15&lt;/span&gt;
  70. </description>
  71.  <pubDate>Sun, 11 May 2025 18:15:00 +0000</pubDate>
  72.    <dc:creator>Tyler Durden</dc:creator>
  73.    <guid isPermaLink="false">1029410 at https://www.zerohedge.com</guid>
  74.    </item>
  75. <item>
  76.  <title>Trump's 'Nuclear' Deportation Options</title>
  77.  <link>https://www.zerohedge.com/political/trumps-nuclear-deportation-options</link>
  78.  <description>&lt;span property="schema:name" class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden"&gt;Trump's 'Nuclear' Deportation Options&lt;/span&gt;
  79.  
  80.            &lt;div property="schema:text" class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://dailyreckoning.com/trumps-nuclear-deportation-options/"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Authored by James Rickards via DailyReckoning.com,&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  81.  
  82. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The battle between the Trump administration and the federal courts on the topic of deportation is intensifying.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  83.  
  84. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/dr-hero-img-05-10-25-650x360.jpg?itok=GknM5mDK" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/dr-hero-img-05-10-25-650x360.jpg?itok=GknM5mDK"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="0f289c0c-9e83-484f-8d06-432c1c899c3a" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="277" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/dr-hero-img-05-10-25-650x360.jpg?itok=GknM5mDK" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  85.  
  86. &lt;p&gt;The outlines are clear. Biden and his corrupt cronies left the U.S. southern border wide open for four years. Estimates vary but it’s likely 8 million illegal aliens crossed the border. But the actual number could be 10 million or higher. Of course, some just came for a better opportunity, but many were murderers, terrorists, rapists, sex traffickers, Chinese spies and every sort of violent low life you can imagine.&lt;/p&gt;
  87.  
  88. &lt;p&gt;It’s nearly impossible to find and deport 8 million people. Biden made sure of that by ignoring the procedures for tracking and documenting the alien invasion. Trump’s policy of “remain in Mexico” while immigration cases were pending was abandoned by Biden.&lt;strong&gt; Many of the illegals got court dates, but those were scheduled years in advance.&lt;/strong&gt; The expectation was that the court notices would be thrown in the trash, the illegals would not show up in court, and no enforcement action would be conducted.&lt;/p&gt;
  89.  
  90. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Trump has launched a major deportation effort despite these handicaps. &lt;/strong&gt;In any situation where you can accomplish part of the task but not all, the first move is to prioritize elements so you can devote resources to the best effect. Trump has done that also. He has prioritized the worst of the worst – criminals and terrorists – for early deportation. That reduces crime and violence in the U.S. and gives Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) a chance to hone their techniques for the larger task ahead.&lt;/p&gt;
  91.  
  92. &lt;h2&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The New Obstacle – The Courts&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;
  93.  
  94. &lt;p&gt;Now, Trump has encountered a new obstacle. It’s not the illegals, the Democrats or the media. It’s the federal court system, especially rogue district court judges appointed by Biden and Obama. To be clear, the rogue judges don’t work in a vacuum. The plaintiffs are hand selected to create sympathy in the media (although there’s little sympathetic about a rapist) and are represented in court by lawyers backed by well-funded NGOs and activist organizations.&lt;/p&gt;
  95.  
  96. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;It’s not as if the illegals have the resources to appeal cases to the Supreme Court on their own. They don’t need them.&lt;/strong&gt; From Soros on down, the fight against deportation is well-funded and skillfully lawyered. The lawyers present everything the judges need to tear down Trump’s agenda.&lt;/p&gt;
  97.  
  98. &lt;p&gt;There are hundreds of cases involving thousands and potentially millions of illegal aliens now pending in the courts. Trump has been losing most of these cases at the district court level, but it’s reasonable to expect some success at the circuit court and Supreme Court levels. But that takes time.&lt;/p&gt;
  99.  
  100. &lt;p&gt;Rather than review the docket case-by-case and issue-by-issue, it may be useful to step back and look at the forest instead of the individual trees. The radical neo-Marxist lawyers don’t care about the individual defendants. They don’t care about blocking individual deportations. They don’t even care about the law. What’s going on is far more pernicious and damaging to Trump and the country.&lt;/p&gt;
  101.  
  102. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;There’s a lot of talk about the Constitution, but a pure illegal does not have full constitutional rights. &lt;/strong&gt;The courts have afforded them some limited rights such as freedom from torture and freedom of religion. The difficulty with the pending Trump deportation cases is that radical lawyers are concocting status arguments that allow the illegals to upgrade their status.&lt;/p&gt;
  103.  
  104. &lt;h2&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The Goal Is Not Justice – It’s Delay&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;
  105.  
  106. &lt;p&gt;This legal upgrade can be based on asylum claims, pending immigration court dates, and some blanket grants for temporary residence. Some illegals are married to legals, etc. Once you’re in one or more of those categories as a plaintiff, you receive more rights including due process and habeas corpus, even if not full constitutional rights.Alexjandro Mayorkas knew what he was doing when he opened the border under Biden. He wanted the illegals to have a one-way ticket and made it extremely difficult to deport any.&lt;/p&gt;
  107.  
  108. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Here’s the point. What the left is trying to do is to create a set of rulings that will force Trump to litigate every single case. No mass deportations. No deals with foreign countries to take plane loads of illegals for incarceration in local prisons. Instead, each case will be heard individually. Each claim will be raised in a separate proceeding. Each due process argument will be heard in a separate trial.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  109.  
  110. &lt;p&gt;This approach will do more than delay deportations. It will jam the court dockets. It will overwhelm the judicial branch. It will prevent the smooth functioning of a range of government functions.&lt;/p&gt;
  111.  
  112. &lt;p&gt;Now imagine this technique expanded beyond deportation. You can apply this court-jamming massive litigation approach to the closing of government agencies, the termination of government employees, the cuts in government spending and the entire Trump agenda. Don’t just litigate. Grind the entire system to a halt. That’s the plan.&lt;/p&gt;
  113.  
  114. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Do individual legal victories in certain cases help Trump? Not necessarily.&lt;/strong&gt; The activist lawyers and their armies of illegals just file a new lawsuit in a different jurisdiction with slightly varied facts and start the process all over again. Is there any end to it?&lt;/p&gt;
  115.  
  116. &lt;h2&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Three Solutions To The Problem&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;
  117.  
  118. &lt;p&gt;One is for the Supreme Court to issue a definitive ruling that &lt;strong&gt;district courts cannot issue nationwide injunctions&lt;/strong&gt;, can only issue orders for the plaintiffs in the case and not the entire class of illegals, and that the courts have almost no jurisdiction over the conduct of foreign policy. Those rulings would empower Trump’s deportation programs.&lt;/p&gt;
  119.  
  120. &lt;p&gt;The second way is for Trump to &lt;strong&gt;ignore the courts and proceed as planned&lt;/strong&gt;. Critics will scream this is “unconstitutional”, but it’s just as unconstitutional for courts to ignore their limitations and intrude on the power of the executive branch. It’s an outcome the courts will have brought upon themselves.&lt;/p&gt;
  121.  
  122. &lt;p&gt;The third way is to &lt;strong&gt;abolish the district courts&lt;/strong&gt;, or at least some of them. That’s not as radical as it sounds. The Constitution clearly gives Congress the power to structure the court system any way it likes with the exception of the Supreme Court. Congress created the district courts and Congress can abolish them as well.&lt;/p&gt;
  123.  
  124. &lt;p&gt;If one of those three paths is not taken, then the left wins. In that case, the country loses. We already have four Supreme Court votes to support Trump’s program (Alito, Thomas, Gorsuch and Kavanaugh). It only takes one more vote to win. Roberts and Barrett are the two swing votes. Let’s hope they lean the right way when the crucial case arrives.&lt;/p&gt;
  125. &lt;/div&gt;
  126.      &lt;span rel="schema:author" class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"&gt;&lt;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="" class="username" xml:lang=""&gt;Tyler Durden&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
  127. &lt;span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-05-11T17:05:00+00:00" class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"&gt;Sun, 05/11/2025 - 13:05&lt;/span&gt;
  128. </description>
  129.  <pubDate>Sun, 11 May 2025 17:05:00 +0000</pubDate>
  130.    <dc:creator>Tyler Durden</dc:creator>
  131.    <guid isPermaLink="false">1029411 at https://www.zerohedge.com</guid>
  132.    </item>
  133. <item>
  134.  <title>Bessent Says US, China Made "Substantial Progress" On Deal After "Very Constructive" 2 Days Of Negotiations</title>
  135.  <link>https://www.zerohedge.com/political/bessent-says-us-china-made-substantial-progress-deal-after-very-constructive-2-days</link>
  136.  <description>&lt;span property="schema:name" class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden"&gt;Bessent Says US, China Made "Substantial Progress" On Deal After "Very Constructive" 2 Days Of Negotiations&lt;/span&gt;
  137.  
  138.            &lt;div property="schema:text" class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"&gt;&lt;p&gt;Just hours after &lt;a href="https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/trump-touts-great-progress-china-tariff-talks-suggests-total-reset-table"&gt;Trump praised China tariff talks&lt;/a&gt;, saying that "great progress" had been made and that a "total reset" of relations was on the table, the second day of trade negotiations between the US and China concluded moments ago, and there was more good news: &lt;strong&gt;Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said that the US and China made “substantial progress” &lt;/strong&gt;adding that they will share more details on Monday.&lt;/p&gt;
  139.  
  140. &lt;p&gt;The announcement followed hours of meetings between Bessent, Greer and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng. The talks were hosted by the Swiss ambassador to the United Nations, whose residence was used as the venue for the two countries’ teams.&lt;/p&gt;
  141.  
  142. &lt;p&gt;Here are the Bloomberg and Reuters headlines after day 2:&lt;/p&gt;
  143.  
  144. &lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;BESSENT: US, CHINA MADE 'SUBSTANTIAL PROGRESS' ON DEAL&lt;/li&gt;
  145. &lt;li&gt;GREER: IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND HOW QUICK WE CAME TO AGREEMENT&lt;/li&gt;
  146. &lt;li&gt;THIS WAS A VERY CONSTRUCTIVE 2 DAYS&lt;/li&gt;
  147. &lt;li&gt;&lt;span class="css-1jxf684 r-bcqeeo r-1ttztb7 r-qvutc0 r-poiln3"&gt;DIFFERENCES NOT AS GREAT AS PREVIOUSLY THOUGHT&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
  148. &lt;li&gt;BESSENT: COMPLETE BRIEFING COMING TOMORROW MORNING&lt;/li&gt;
  149. &lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;Bessent said that "talks were productive" and involved China's Vice Premier, two Vice Ministers who were integrally involved, Ambassador Jamieson and myself." Bessent said that he "will be giving details tomorrow."&lt;/p&gt;
  150.  
  151. &lt;p&gt;"I spoke  to President Trump, as did Ambassador Jamieson last night, and he is fully informed of what is going on. There will be a complete briefing tomorrow morning."&lt;/p&gt;
  152.  
  153. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet"&gt;
  154. &lt;p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en" xml:lang="en"&gt;Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's statement regarding US-China trade/tariff talks in Geneva ⬇️&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
  155. "We will be giving details tomorrow. But I can tell you that the talks were productive." &lt;a href="https://t.co/MvfALA5IzR"&gt;pic.twitter.com/MvfALA5IzR&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  156. — Tucker Carlson Network 🇺🇸 Fan Account (@TCNetworkFans) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/TCNetworkFans/status/1921603872482603195?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 11, 2025&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
  157. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;p&gt;Separately, USTR Jamieson Greer said that "it's important to understand how quickly we were able to come to agreement which were that perhaps the differences were not so large as maybe thought."&lt;/p&gt;
  158.  
  159. &lt;p&gt;"That being said, there was a lot of groundwork that went into these two days... &lt;strong&gt;we're confident that the deal we struck with our Chinese partners will help us to resolve, work toward resolving that national emergency."&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  160.  
  161. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet"&gt;
  162. &lt;p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en" xml:lang="en"&gt;🚨 JUST IN: A DEAL has been struck with the Chinese on trade after Scott Bessent's discussions...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
  163. GREER: "It's important to understand how quickly we were able to come to agreement which were that perhaps the differences were not so large as maybe thought."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
  164. "That being said,… &lt;a href="https://t.co/EhpFEC2fKe"&gt;pic.twitter.com/EhpFEC2fKe&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  165. — Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/EricLDaugh/status/1921599107841339899?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 11, 2025&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
  166. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;p&gt;Tensions between the world’s two biggest economies reached a new high point after President Donald Trump steadily increased tariffs on Beijing to 145%. The duties are supposed to address China’s role in the fentanyl trade, its massive trade surplus with the US, and respond to Beijing’s retaliatory measures imposed after Trump’s opening salvo. China in response increased its tariffs on US goods to 125%. Looking forward, however, Goldman expects a substantial drop in tariffs, expecting them to be cut by at least a half.&lt;/p&gt;
  167.  
  168. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/US%20China%20tariffs%20revised%20Goldman_0.png?itok=QqHM24r6" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/US%20China%20tariffs%20revised%20Goldman_0.png?itok=QqHM24r6"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="cabda49e-25e3-4f29-be92-7dd97973d334" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="334" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/US%20China%20tariffs%20revised%20Goldman_0.png?itok=QqHM24r6" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  169.  
  170. &lt;p&gt;The tariff tit-for-tat led to a standoff between the world’s two largest economies, with neither side wanting to budge and no off-ramp in sight; however amid the economic slowdown, both sides acknowledged a reduction in tensions and tariffs is necessary and public talks were announced.&lt;/p&gt;
  171. &lt;/div&gt;
  172.      &lt;span rel="schema:author" class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"&gt;&lt;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="" class="username" xml:lang=""&gt;Tyler Durden&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
  173. &lt;span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-05-11T16:40:37+00:00" class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"&gt;Sun, 05/11/2025 - 12:40&lt;/span&gt;
  174. </description>
  175.  <pubDate>Sun, 11 May 2025 16:40:37 +0000</pubDate>
  176.    <dc:creator>Tyler Durden</dc:creator>
  177.    <guid isPermaLink="false">1029426 at https://www.zerohedge.com</guid>
  178.    </item>
  179. <item>
  180.  <title>"Absurd Conspiracy": French Media Rushes To Quash Claims Macron, Merz &amp; Starmer Caught Hiding Cocaine On Kiev-Bound Train</title>
  181.  <link>https://www.zerohedge.com/political/absurd-conspiracy-french-media-rushes-quash-claims-macron-merz-starmer-caught-hiding</link>
  182.  <description>&lt;span property="schema:name" class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden"&gt;"Absurd Conspiracy": French Media Rushes To Quash Claims Macron, Merz &amp; Starmer Caught Hiding Cocaine On Kiev-Bound Train&lt;/span&gt;
  183.  
  184.            &lt;div property="schema:text" class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"&gt;&lt;p&gt;French media are on the defensive after journalists unexpectedly entered a train carriage carrying French President Emmanuel Macron, along with the German and British Prime Ministers, en route to Kyiv on Friday, which sparked a firestorm on social media with &lt;strong&gt;allegations of cocaine use by the top leaders&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
  185.  
  186. &lt;p&gt;"They [social media users] cite &lt;strong&gt;videos that allegedly show Emmanuel Macron discreetly hiding a strange white bag on the table&lt;/strong&gt;," the French daily newspaper &lt;a href="https://www.liberation.fr/checknews/non-emmanuel-macron-na-pas-cache-de-la-cocaine-prise-avec-friedrich-merz-et-keir-starmer-dans-le-train-pour-kyiv-20250511_ERP2X225XBFWZCNO4OZEXT5OFI/"&gt;Libération&lt;/a&gt; said, adding, "And according to these accounts, Friedrich Merz even had a straw to use to take drugs. These &lt;u&gt;&lt;strong&gt;conspiracy accusations fit with the narrative that Western elites are depraved and approach war unconsciously&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/u&gt;." &lt;/p&gt;
  187.  
  188. &lt;p&gt;When reporters entered the room, Macron was meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on a train ride from Poland to Ukraine. &lt;/p&gt;
  189.  
  190. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The video.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  191.  
  192. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet"&gt;
  193. &lt;p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en" xml:lang="en"&gt;NEW: French media is shutting down social media rumors that French President Emmanuel Macron was caught with a bag of cocaine during a trip to Ukraine.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
  194. The moment was caught during a train ride from Poland to Ukraine when reporters entered the room.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
  195. Macron was meeting with the… &lt;a href="https://t.co/RMoKQ5VkUt"&gt;pic.twitter.com/RMoKQ5VkUt&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  196. — Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/CollinRugg/status/1921568553553240099?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 11, 2025&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
  197. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;p&gt;Libération rushed to the defense of Macron and the Western leaders:&lt;/p&gt;
  198.  
  199. &lt;blockquote&gt;
  200. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Several internet users, sharing posts favorable to Vladimir Putin&lt;/strong&gt;, have claimed that the three men had used cocaine together. "Coke will decide World War III," one of them feigned concern.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  201. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  202.  
  203. &lt;p&gt;Libération even suggested:&lt;/p&gt;
  204.  
  205. &lt;blockquote&gt;
  206. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;High-quality photographs and videos, such as those taken by the AFP or AP news agencies , show that the &lt;strong&gt;mysterious bag of white powder is actually a handkerchief&lt;/strong&gt; rolled into a ball that was placed on the table before Keir Starmer arrived and the cameras entered the booth, where Macron and Merz were already seated. The &lt;strong&gt;straw looks more like a stirrer or a toothpick&lt;/strong&gt;, which the German chancellor is said to have been fiddling with. This explains why the two leaders do not want these objects immortalized in the images of the meeting.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  207. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  208.  
  209. &lt;p&gt;Maybe Libération's defense of Macron and the other Western leaders is accurate — perhaps it really was just a 'handkerchief' and a 'toothpick.' &lt;strong&gt;But the real red flag&lt;/strong&gt; is the leaders' abrupt and suspicious behavior as they &lt;strong&gt;scrambled to cover up whatever was on the table when journalists unexpectedly entered the train carriage&lt;/strong&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;
  210.  
  211. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Cocaine allegations come as no surprise&lt;/strong&gt;, considering the leaders were inbound to visit this guy... &lt;/p&gt;
  212.  
  213. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet"&gt;
  214. &lt;p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en" xml:lang="en"&gt;Zelensky is visibly high as hell on MSNBC…&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
  215. How much longer are we going to let this clown show go on?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
  216. This man is coked out of his mind while getting asked about the war he is losing. This is the guy Congress wants to give another $60 billion of our money to… &lt;a href="https://t.co/K0m06ZvRE9"&gt;pic.twitter.com/K0m06ZvRE9&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  217. — Clandestine (@WarClandestine) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/WarClandestine/status/1761960922342400370?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;February 26, 2024&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
  218. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;p&gt;This song seems appropriate... &lt;/p&gt;
  219.  
  220. &lt;p&gt;&lt;iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; 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/_x2m6i4KFqg?si=G39iiiju6QKG3RBU" title="YouTube video player" width="560"&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  221.  
  222. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Cocaine or no cocaine. The optics here are not good. &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  223.  
  224. &lt;p&gt;&lt;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/"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="9ad3c160-65f7-4802-a6da-de5e7a93a7a1" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="287" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/BEEF%20INIT%20SUNDAY%20NIGHT%20JPG_1.jpg?itok=_2Nf3Zs1" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  225. &lt;/div&gt;
  226.      &lt;span rel="schema:author" class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"&gt;&lt;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="" class="username" xml:lang=""&gt;Tyler Durden&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
  227. &lt;span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-05-11T16:00:58+00:00" class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"&gt;Sun, 05/11/2025 - 12:00&lt;/span&gt;
  228. </description>
  229.  <pubDate>Sun, 11 May 2025 16:00:58 +0000</pubDate>
  230.    <dc:creator>Tyler Durden</dc:creator>
  231.    <guid isPermaLink="false">1029423 at https://www.zerohedge.com</guid>
  232.    </item>
  233. <item>
  234.  <title>In Volatile Markets, RWAs Like Gold Are A Lifeline</title>
  235.  <link>https://www.zerohedge.com/crypto/volatile-markets-rwas-gold-are-lifeline</link>
  236.  <description>&lt;span property="schema:name" class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden"&gt;In Volatile Markets, RWAs Like Gold Are A Lifeline&lt;/span&gt;
  237.  
  238.            &lt;div property="schema:text" class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/in-volatile-markets-rwas-like-gold-are-a-lifeline"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Authored by Kevin Rusher via CoinTelegraph.com,&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  239.  
  240. &lt;p&gt;It’s a volatile world out there. This year, we’ve seen stocks take a wild ride as gold has pumped and crypto has been caught somewhere in the middle. Investors have dumped risk assets and scrambled for safe havens. Gold is leading the charge.&lt;/p&gt;
  241.  
  242. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/01961f10-c386-71ac-aece-f3a174d6.jpg?itok=fGWxnDr1" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/01961f10-c386-71ac-aece-f3a174d6.jpg?itok=fGWxnDr1"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="86abf0f4-02ce-4e42-9240-bf291e8e8732" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="333" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/01961f10-c386-71ac-aece-f3a174d6.jpg?itok=fGWxnDr1" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  243.  
  244. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;While gold is safe, it is not very hard-working. &lt;/strong&gt;Unlike cash and treasuries, the yellow metal does not generate income. Now, more than ever, investors need to be able to earn yield on gold — particularly in the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector.&lt;/p&gt;
  245.  
  246. &lt;p&gt;The only way to make money from gold is to buy low and sell high. Most investors don’t tend to buy gold like this. That’s for good reason — over the long term, gold’s performance is typically consistent, if not without a few peaks and troughs here and there, as we have recently seen.&lt;/p&gt;
  247.  
  248. &lt;p&gt;For example, after the 2008 financial crisis, the price of gold soared 148% but stagnated for nearly a decade before the COVID-19 pandemic triggered another rally, and it's likely we will see gold hold, if not fall from it's new record high once markets revive. While it remains an excellent hedge, gold’s long-term track record is not a growth story.&lt;/p&gt;
  249.  
  250. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Investors prefer US Treasurys or high-yield savings accounts as part of a balanced portfolio. While gold may outperform these assets in uncertain times, it offers a better balance of security and predictable income over the long term. &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  251.  
  252. &lt;h2&gt;The DeFi solution &lt;/h2&gt;
  253.  
  254. &lt;p&gt;This is where DeFi brings innovation to the world’s oldest asset. DeFi can significantly modernize gold investing, offering the speed and transparency of blockchain-based transactions and the ability to earn returns.&lt;/p&gt;
  255.  
  256. &lt;p&gt;Currently, though, most tokenized gold is much the same as holding it in an exchange-traded fund (ETF). &lt;strong&gt;Stablecoin giants like Tether and Paxos have launched gold-backed tokens, which they say are fully backed by physical, audited gold reserves, yet offer no yield.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  257.  
  258. &lt;p&gt;Most DeFi investors prefer liquid, tradable assets like cryptocurrencies and stablecoins, which can generate attractive returns. Many would rather, for example, buy Tether’s USDt stablecoin and stake it, earning rewards while still maintaining ownership.&lt;/p&gt;
  259.  
  260. &lt;p&gt;Perhaps this is why the market capitalization of gold-backed tokens remains modest. Tether Gold, the world’s most significant gold token, has a market capitalization of just under $835 million, for example, while Paxos Gold sits at around $799 million. Combined, this is equivalent to just 1% of the market cap of USDT. &lt;/p&gt;
  261.  
  262. &lt;h2&gt;Unlocking income from the world’s oldest asset &lt;/h2&gt;
  263.  
  264. &lt;p&gt;To unlock gold’s full potential, we need to take tokenization a step further by creating a DeFi ecosystem where tokenized gold is actively put to work — borrowed, lent and integrated into yield-bearing strategies.&lt;/p&gt;
  265.  
  266. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;One possibility is for companies such as gold miners is to issue tokenized versions of their reserves that can be turned into stablecoins that can then be staked to earn a yield.&lt;/strong&gt; Leveraging protocols whose liquidity mechanisms enable the trading of stablecoins and real-world asset (RWA) tokens, holders could take advantage of further yield opportunities throughout the DeFi ecosystem.&lt;/p&gt;
  267.  
  268. &lt;p&gt;Beyond the benefits of yield opportunities, blockchain technology means investors in tokenized gold can benefit from the flexibility of 24-hour trading, near real-time price discovery and near-instant settlement without compromising the stability of the asset. &lt;/p&gt;
  269.  
  270. &lt;h2&gt;The future of gold investing&lt;/h2&gt;
  271.  
  272. &lt;p&gt;It is, perhaps, ironic that — just as governments worldwide are starting to put their stamp of approval on digital finance — gold is becoming a highly desirable commodity again. The public’s interest in it will grow as governments essentially ratify digital finance. At the same time, the appetite for gold in these uncertain times will also increase. &lt;/p&gt;
  273.  
  274. &lt;p&gt;DeFi could bring these trends together and kickstart a natural evolution in gold ownership that provides a solid bridge between traditional and digital finance. While gold inside traditional markets attracts investors looking for stability, DeFi brings opportunities that don’t compromise that stability, as it presents new and unique yield opportunities. &lt;/p&gt;
  275.  
  276. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Gold has captivated humanity for thousands of years. &lt;/strong&gt;It’s the foundation of myths, the standard of wealth and the ultimate hedge against uncertainty. But in today’s financial world, it needs an upgrade.&lt;/p&gt;
  277.  
  278. &lt;p&gt;Through integrating gold into the DeFi ecosystem, we could unlock its true potential — not just as a store of value but as an income-generating asset. The world’s oldest safe haven asset is finally on the brink of a digital evolution.&lt;/p&gt;
  279. &lt;/div&gt;
  280.      &lt;span rel="schema:author" class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"&gt;&lt;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="" class="username" xml:lang=""&gt;Tyler Durden&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
  281. &lt;span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-05-11T15:40:00+00:00" class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"&gt;Sun, 05/11/2025 - 11:40&lt;/span&gt;
  282. </description>
  283.  <pubDate>Sun, 11 May 2025 15:40:00 +0000</pubDate>
  284.    <dc:creator>Tyler Durden</dc:creator>
  285.    <guid isPermaLink="false">1029408 at https://www.zerohedge.com</guid>
  286.    </item>
  287. <item>
  288.  <title>Trump Admin To Accept 'Palace In The Sky' 747 Jet From Royal Family Of Qatar, ABC Says</title>
  289.  <link>https://www.zerohedge.com/political/trump-will-accept-luxury-747-gift-royal-family-qatar-abc-says</link>
  290.  <description>&lt;span property="schema:name" class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden"&gt;Trump Admin To Accept 'Palace In The Sky' 747 Jet From Royal Family Of Qatar, ABC Says&lt;/span&gt;
  291.  
  292.            &lt;div property="schema:text" class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"&gt;&lt;p&gt;New details emerged on Sunday morning, revealing that the Trump administration could soon receive one of the most valuable gifts from a foreign government: a Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet from Qatar's royal family. The 747 will be retrofitted with communications systems and other equipment to transform into Air Force One.&lt;/p&gt;
  293.  
  294. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-administration-poised-accept-palace-sky-gift-trump/story?id=121680511"&gt;ABC &lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"&gt;&lt;a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-administration-poised-accept-palace-sky-gift-trump/story?id=121680511" target="_blank"&gt;News&lt;/a&gt; cited&lt;/span&gt; people familiar with the transfer as saying that the royal family of Qatar's jumbo jet gift will be announced next week when President Trump visits Qatar for his Middle East tour—the first major tour of his second term. The tour will concentrate on business deals in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates.&lt;/p&gt;
  295.  
  296. &lt;p&gt;Sources said the 747 will be transferred to the United States Air Force to meet the technical specifications required to fly the president and supporting staff members.&lt;/p&gt;
  297.  
  298. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/Qatar-Private-Boeing-747.jpg?itok=Mxnz2lRw" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/Qatar-Private-Boeing-747.jpg?itok=Mxnz2lRw"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="083b52a0-d6db-454c-8046-d3b5983982a3" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="333" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/Qatar-Private-Boeing-747.jpg?itok=Mxnz2lRw" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  299.  
  300. &lt;p&gt;For months, President Trump has been overly frustrated with delays in Boeing's new Air Force One production timeline. &lt;/p&gt;
  301.  
  302. &lt;p&gt;Earlier this month, a Wall Street Journal report said the president commissioned defense contractor L3Harris Technologies to convert the luxury 747 into Air Force One, with a completion timeline by fall of this year. &lt;/p&gt;
  303.  
  304. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet"&gt;
  305. &lt;p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en" xml:lang="en"&gt;Frustrated With Boeing, Trump Reportedly Turns To L3Harris For "Interim" Air Force One Jet &lt;a href="https://t.co/mI3uPaFKOM"&gt;https://t.co/mI3uPaFKOM&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  306. — zerohedge (@zerohedge) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/zerohedge/status/1918270542206861549?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 2, 2025&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
  307. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;p&gt;In February, FOX Business' Edward Lawrence confirmed that Boeing had suffered global supply chain snarls that changed project timings and delayed the completion date to 2029. &lt;/p&gt;
  308.  
  309. &lt;p&gt;White House communications director Steven Cheung told FOX Business then: "It is ridiculous that the delivery of a new Air Force One airplane has been delayed for such a long time."&lt;/p&gt;
  310.  
  311. &lt;p&gt;Also in February, the president toured the Qatari 747 at West Palm Beach International Airport and told reporters he was "not happy" with Boeing.&lt;/p&gt;
  312.  
  313. &lt;p&gt;Considering that the U.S. president is not allowed to receive gifts from foreign governments, the 747 jet will be transferred to the USAF (U.S. Gov't), not Trump personally. Yet we're likely going to see a news cycle filled with misinformation and disinformation from deranged leftist journalists who claim this was a personal gift. &lt;/p&gt;
  314.  
  315. &lt;p&gt;ABC quoted sources that provided more color on the legality behind the gift:&lt;/p&gt;
  316.  
  317. &lt;blockquote&gt;
  318. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Anticipating those questions, sources told ABC News that lawyers for the White House counsel's office and the Department of Justice drafted an analysis for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth concluding that is legal for the Department of Defense to accept the aircraft as a gift and later turn it over to the Trump library, and that it does not violate laws against bribery or the Constitution's prohibition (the emoluments clause) of any U.S. government official accepting gifts "from any King, Prince or foreign State."&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  319.  
  320. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Sources told ABC News that Attorney General Pam Bondi and Trump's top White House lawyer David Warrington concluded it would be "legally permissible" for the donation of the aircraft to be conditioned on transferring its ownership to Trump's presidential library before the end of his term, according to sources familiar with their determination.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  321.  
  322. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;The sources said Bondi provided a legal memorandum addressed to the White House counsel's office last week after Warrington asked her for advice on the legality of the Pentagon accepting such a donation.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  323.  
  324. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;. . . &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  325.  
  326. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;The plane will then be transferred to the Trump Presidential Library Foundation no later than Jan. 1, 2029, and any costs relating to its transfer will be paid for by the U.S. Air Force, the sources told ABC News.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  327. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  328.  
  329. &lt;p&gt;The Qataris certainly outdid themselves ahead of welcoming the president. So, what will the Saudis and Emiratis offer? We suspect these countries will try to outdo one another when making deals with the president next week.&lt;/p&gt;
  330.  
  331. &lt;p&gt;&lt;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/"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="bdab1b90-5407-4ed5-abbb-cf76f0091bc0" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="287" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/BEEF%20INIT%20SUNDAY%20NIGHT%20JPG.jpg?itok=JF46D7mv" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  332. &lt;/div&gt;
  333.      &lt;span rel="schema:author" class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"&gt;&lt;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="" class="username" xml:lang=""&gt;Tyler Durden&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
  334. &lt;span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-05-11T15:05:00+00:00" class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"&gt;Sun, 05/11/2025 - 11:05&lt;/span&gt;
  335. </description>
  336.  <pubDate>Sun, 11 May 2025 15:05:00 +0000</pubDate>
  337.    <dc:creator>Tyler Durden</dc:creator>
  338.    <guid isPermaLink="false">1029419 at https://www.zerohedge.com</guid>
  339.    </item>
  340. <item>
  341.  <title>They've Destroyed Jobs And Opportunity For Black Chicagoans</title>
  342.  <link>https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/theyve-destroyed-jobs-and-opportunity-black-chicagoans</link>
  343.  <description>&lt;span property="schema:name" class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden"&gt;They've Destroyed Jobs And Opportunity For Black Chicagoans&lt;/span&gt;
  344.  
  345.            &lt;div property="schema:text" class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;By Ted Dabrowski of &lt;a href="https://wirepoints.org/theyve-destroyed-jobs-and-opportunity-for-black-chicagoans-wirepoints/"&gt;Wirepoints&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  346.  
  347. &lt;p&gt;Illinois and Chicago politicians have made a mess of opportunities for blacks in Chicago. In preparation for my &lt;a href="https://wirepoints.org/if-you-try-to-make-the-rich-pay-for-tax-hikes-it-hurts-jobs-and-job-creation-it-chases-wealthy-people-away-from-the-state-meaning-less-investment-in-illinois-wirepoints-on-wttw/"&gt;Chicago Tonight’s Black Voices&lt;/a&gt; appearance last week – more on that later – I pulled together several key facts on how Chicago blacks were fairing vs. the nation’s other big cities. The data, straight from the U.S. Census or the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, is dismal.&lt;/p&gt;
  348.  
  349. &lt;p&gt;Chicago is stuck in a vicious spiral, where too much &lt;a href="https://wirepoints.org/a-bit-of-chicago-truth-telling-actuaries-warn-of-insolvency-businesses-fear-crime-wirepoints/"&gt;spending&lt;/a&gt; has led to too much debt, including &lt;a href="https://wirepoints.org/chicagos-black-hole-pension-debts-jump-even-though-taxpayers-pour-billions-into-city-funds-wirepoints/"&gt;massive pension debts&lt;/a&gt;. Taxes, as a result, have become &lt;a href="https://wirepoints.org/chicago-property-taxes-rise-3-5-times-faster-than-inflation-in-last-decade-wirepoints/"&gt;increasingly punitive&lt;/a&gt;. Pile on top of that &lt;a href="https://wirepoints.org/2024-education-fail-not-a-single-child-tested-proficient-in-math-in-80-illinois-schools-for-reading-its-24-schools-wirepoints/"&gt;failing schools&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href="https://wirepoints.org/2024-homicide-rankings-chicago-st-louis-lead-nation-yet-again-a-wirepoints-survey-of-americas-75-largest-cities/"&gt;crime&lt;/a&gt;, and that’s &lt;a href="https://wirepoints.org/chicago-area-loses-population-for-third-year-in-a-row-third-worst-loss-among-big-metros-wirepoints/"&gt;chased out&lt;/a&gt; people and businesses, driving down job creation and investment. Based on the data, minorities are paying a big price relative to their peers in other big cities.&lt;/p&gt;
  350.  
  351. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/4.30.25-Chicago-Tonight-768x432.png?itok=5-hXjQ_0" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/4.30.25-Chicago-Tonight-768x432.png?itok=5-hXjQ_0"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="b90d7d2e-b7c3-4cca-aedb-208ec6802232" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="281" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/4.30.25-Chicago-Tonight-768x432.png?itok=5-hXjQ_0" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  352.  
  353. &lt;p&gt;At the core of Chicago’s failure is a lack of economic growth. The metro area’s GDP, after adjusting for inflation, has grown only 4% since 2019. &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;That’s the worst economic growth among the nation’s 15 largest metro areas.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;
  354.  
  355. &lt;p&gt;It’s quite the opposite for cities with pro-growth, pro-business policies. The economies of booming metros like Dallas, Seattle, Miami and Phoenix have all grown 17% or more. That’s more than four times the growth rate of Chicago.&lt;/p&gt;
  356.  
  357. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/Chicago-metro-area-suffers-worst-economic-growth.1-1024x515.png?itok=11BTWnUU" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/Chicago-metro-area-suffers-worst-economic-growth.1-1024x515.png?itok=11BTWnUU"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="3e986bf9-3b8f-499c-8f2f-8d61847b78df" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="251" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/Chicago-metro-area-suffers-worst-economic-growth.1-1024x515.png?itok=11BTWnUU" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  358.  
  359. &lt;p&gt;Unsurprisingly, jobs are a problem. &lt;strong&gt;At 12.3%, Chicago’s black unemployment rate was the highest among the nation’s 15 biggest cities&lt;/strong&gt;, according to the latest data from &lt;a href="https://data.census.gov/table/ACSST1Y2023.S2301?t=Employment%20and%20Labor%20Force%20Status&amp;g=160XX00US0455000,0644000,0666000,0668000,1235000,1714000,3651000,3712000,3918000,4260000,4805000,4819000,4827000,4835000,4865000"&gt;the U.S. Census Bureau&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
  360.  
  361. &lt;p&gt;Jacksonville’s black jobless rate was half that of Chicago’s, and Charlotte’s was just a third.&lt;/p&gt;
  362.  
  363. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/Chicago-has-highest-black-unemployment-rate-among-nations-15-biggest-cities.1-1024x515.png?itok=7YomMGZN" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/Chicago-has-highest-black-unemployment-rate-among-nations-15-biggest-cities.1-1024x515.png?itok=7YomMGZN"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="32ae1c1a-ecf3-4fbf-b2b7-9f93431d83be" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="251" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/Chicago-has-highest-black-unemployment-rate-among-nations-15-biggest-cities.1-1024x515.png?itok=7YomMGZN" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  364.  
  365. &lt;p&gt;A less dynamic economy also means lower paying jobs. The median income for black households in Chicago is just $44,413 after adjusting for cost of living. &lt;strong&gt;That’s the third-lowest amount among big cities.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  366.  
  367. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/Black-Chicago-households-have-3rd-lowest-incomes.1-1024x514.png?itok=ORYrMioy" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/Black-Chicago-households-have-3rd-lowest-incomes.1-1024x514.png?itok=ORYrMioy"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="a246f87b-3745-4eb2-9ea2-2e94d806a130" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="251" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/Black-Chicago-households-have-3rd-lowest-incomes.1-1024x514.png?itok=ORYrMioy" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  368.  
  369. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Chicago’s black poverty rate also leads among the nation’s 15 biggest cities.&lt;/strong&gt; Over 26% of black Chicagoans are below the poverty line – nearly 200,000 people.&lt;/p&gt;
  370.  
  371. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/Chicago-has-highest-black-poverty-rate.1-1024x522.png?itok=gJCw9QLR" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/Chicago-has-highest-black-poverty-rate.1-1024x522.png?itok=gJCw9QLR"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="7508c1c4-ef0e-4e75-b3ff-3627a3a5b7ec" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="255" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/Chicago-has-highest-black-poverty-rate.1-1024x522.png?itok=gJCw9QLR" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  372.  
  373. &lt;p&gt;And then there’s government dependency. &lt;strong&gt;Nearly 57% of black Chicagoans are enrolled in the food stamp program SNAP&lt;/strong&gt; – the 3rd-highest percentage among America’s 15 big cities.&lt;/p&gt;
  374.  
  375. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/Chicago-has-3rd-highest-percentage-of-black-households-dependent-on-food-stamps.1-1024x518.png?itok=hcCDNJxN" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/Chicago-has-3rd-highest-percentage-of-black-households-dependent-on-food-stamps.1-1024x518.png?itok=hcCDNJxN"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="5ae1083d-f293-4ec9-a843-c1bc81a82583" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="253" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/Chicago-has-3rd-highest-percentage-of-black-households-dependent-on-food-stamps.1-1024x518.png?itok=hcCDNJxN" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  376.  
  377. &lt;p&gt;Despite the above, my fellow panelists on the &lt;a href="https://wirepoints.org/if-you-try-to-make-the-rich-pay-for-tax-hikes-it-hurts-jobs-and-job-creation-it-chases-wealthy-people-away-from-the-state-meaning-less-investment-in-illinois-wirepoints-on-wttw/"&gt;Chicago Tonight show&lt;/a&gt; called for even more spending and tax hikes in the 2026 Illinois budget in the name of supporting the black community. &lt;/p&gt;
  378.  
  379. &lt;p&gt;One panelist laid out a long string of programmatic spending he wanted to see, including money for schools and healthcare and early childhood and transit funding. The other panelist laid out how to pay for it. A CTBA staffer, she called for a 1.5 percentage point hike in Illinois’ personal income tax rate to 6.45%, and if not that, then an expansion in the sales taxes to include services. A link to the segment &lt;a href="https://news.wttw.com/2025/04/30/illinois-budget-deadline-approaches-local-stakeholders-share-their-priorities"&gt;is here&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;
  380.  
  381. &lt;p&gt;If I’m generous about their ideas, yes, tax increases in the short term can generate more money for more social programs. But more spending and tax hikes will only exacerbate the downward spiral Chicago is already in, creating even more dependency.&lt;/p&gt;
  382.  
  383. &lt;p&gt;Chicagoans need the opposite. Instead of more spending and the tax hikes that go with it, lawmakers need to obsess about jobs, investment and economic growth. &lt;/p&gt;
  384.  
  385. &lt;p&gt;Businesses and investment will only return when lawmakers tackle what makes the city so costly. Its massive &lt;a href="https://wirepoints.org/chicagos-black-hole-pension-debts-jump-even-though-taxpayers-pour-billions-into-city-funds-wirepoints/"&gt;$53 billion in pension debts&lt;/a&gt; need major reform. Chicago Public Schools can bring down its $30,000 per student spend &lt;a href="https://wirepoints.org/one-of-the-first-targets-for-an-illinois-doge-chicagos-20-nearly-empty-failing-schools-heres-the-2025-list-wirepoints/"&gt;by closing near-empty schools&lt;/a&gt; and cutting back on its &lt;a href="https://wirepoints.org/shutter-roll-back-freeze-three-things-chicago-public-schools-needs-to-do-wirepoints/"&gt;bloated bureaucracy&lt;/a&gt;. The city’s transit agencies need to stop &lt;a href="https://wirepoints.org/if-theyre-on-a-fiscal-cliff-why-are-cta-and-metra-operating-like-its-2019-wirepoints/"&gt;running near-empty trains and buses&lt;/a&gt; and instead right-size their operations. And the public unions, in particular the teachers union, need to be &lt;a href="https://www.wsj.com/opinion/chicago-teachers-union-gets-what-it-wants-strike-students-covid-teaching-education-omicron-collective-bargianing-11642199401"&gt;de-powered&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;
  386.  
  387. &lt;p&gt;The problem is that our current leaders wear as a badge of pride how many people they can &lt;a href="https://wirepoints.org/we-shouldnt-be-proud-to-have-3-6-million-illinoisans-on-medicaid-it-means-economic-failure-wirepoints-on-chicago-tonight/"&gt;get on Medicaid&lt;/a&gt; and food stamps. They ignore the fact that people, no matter their color, can’t thrive without good jobs and good pay.&lt;/p&gt;
  388.  
  389. &lt;p&gt;Illinois needs a new set of lawmakers that will prioritize economic growth over government dependency.&lt;/p&gt;
  390.  
  391. &lt;p&gt;&lt;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/"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="2b58534d-a9af-4c48-8dff-0693e519b4f6" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="287" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/BEEF%20INIT%20SUNDAY%20NIGHT%20JPG_0.jpg?itok=4Rran6Kf" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  392.  
  393. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://store.zerohedge.com/steak-lover-s-bundle"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Steak Lover's Bundle&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  394.  
  395. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://store.zerohedge.com/wagyu-grill-out-bundle"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Wagyu Grill-Out Bundle&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  396.  
  397. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://store.zerohedge.com/slims-finest-10lb-ground-bundle"&gt;&lt;em&gt;80/20 Ground Beef&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  398. &lt;/div&gt;
  399.      &lt;span rel="schema:author" class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"&gt;&lt;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="" class="username" xml:lang=""&gt;Tyler Durden&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
  400. &lt;span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-05-11T14:30:00+00:00" class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"&gt;Sun, 05/11/2025 - 10:30&lt;/span&gt;
  401. </description>
  402.  <pubDate>Sun, 11 May 2025 14:30:00 +0000</pubDate>
  403.    <dc:creator>Tyler Durden</dc:creator>
  404.    <guid isPermaLink="false">1029393 at https://www.zerohedge.com</guid>
  405.    </item>
  406. <item>
  407.  <title>Trump Touts "Great Progress" In China Tariff Talks, Suggests "Total Reset" On The Table</title>
  408.  <link>https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/trump-touts-great-progress-china-tariff-talks-suggests-total-reset-table</link>
  409.  <description>&lt;span property="schema:name" class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden"&gt;Trump Touts "Great Progress" In China Tariff Talks, Suggests "Total Reset" On The Table&lt;/span&gt;
  410.  
  411.            &lt;div property="schema:text" class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"&gt;&lt;p&gt;President Donald Trump said late on Saturday that "great progress" was being made in ongoing U.S.-China talks over tariffs menacing the global economy, and even suggested a “total reset" was on the table as tariff negotiations are set to continue Sunday in Switzerland.&lt;/p&gt;
  412.  
  413. &lt;p&gt;No major breakthrough was announced in discussions that lasted over 10 hours between U.S. officials, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, and a delegation led by Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng. Still, Trump struck an upbeat tone.&lt;/p&gt;
  414.  
  415. &lt;p&gt;“A very good meeting today with China, in Switzerland. Many things discussed, much agreed to. A total reset negotiated in a friendly, but constructive, manner,” the president wrote on his Truth Social platform. “We want to see, for the good of both China and the U.S., an opening up of China to American business. GREAT PROGRESS MADE!!!”&lt;/p&gt;
  416.  
  417. &lt;p&gt;&lt;iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="truthsocial-embed" src="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/114486066663976973/embed" style="max-width: 100%; border: 0" width="600"&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;script src="https://truthsocial.com/embed.js" async="async"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  418.  
  419. &lt;p&gt;He gave no further details, and officials at the White House also offered little information during and after the opening day of discussions.&lt;/p&gt;
  420.  
  421. &lt;p&gt;Trump's post followed reports that talks would continue Sunday, after extending late into the day on Saturday. Talks have been shrouded in secrecy, and neither side made comments to reporters as they left.&lt;/p&gt;
  422.  
  423. &lt;p&gt;Several convoys of black vehicles left the residence of the Swiss ambassador to the UN in Geneva, which hosted the talks aimed at de-escalating trade tensions between the world’s two biggest economies. Diplomats from both sides also confirmed that the talks took place.&lt;/p&gt;
  424.  
  425. &lt;p&gt;The opening day of negotiations were held in the sumptuous 18th-century “Villa Saladin” overlooking Lake Geneva. The former estate was bequeathed to the Swiss state in 1973, according to the Geneva government.&lt;/p&gt;
  426.  
  427. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet"&gt;
  428. &lt;p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en" xml:lang="en"&gt;The Chinese delegation has left for the trade talks with the U.S. to be held today and tomorrow in Geneva in a bid to deescalate tensions, triggered by U.S. tariff wars. &lt;a href="https://t.co/eMS1cubnCJ"&gt;pic.twitter.com/eMS1cubnCJ&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  429. — Chen Weihua （陈卫华） (@chenweihua) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/chenweihua/status/1921106980296417595?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 10, 2025&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
  430. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;p&gt;Trump's assessment aside, while prospects for a major breakthrough appeared dim when the talks opened there is hope that the two countries will scale back the tariffs they have slapped on each other’s goods, a move that would relieve world financial markets and companies on both sides of the Pacific Ocean that depend on US-China trade.&lt;/p&gt;
  431.  
  432. &lt;p&gt;Trump last month raised U.S. tariffs on China to a combined 145%, and China retaliated by hitting American imports with a 125% levy. Tariffs that high essentially amount to the countries’ boycotting each other’s products, disrupting trade that last year topped $660 billion.&lt;/p&gt;
  433.  
  434. &lt;p&gt;And even before talks got underway, Trump suggested Friday that the U.S. could lower its tariffs on China, saying in a Truth Social post that “ 80% Tariff seems right! Up to Scott″ Bessent.&lt;/p&gt;
  435.  
  436. &lt;p&gt;Sun Yun, director of the China program at the Stimson Center, noted it will be the first time He and Bessent have talked. She doubts the Geneva meeting will produce any substantive results: “the best scenario is for the two sides to agree to de-escalate on the ... tariffs at the same time,” she said, adding even a small reduction would send a positive signal. “It cannot just be words.”&lt;/p&gt;
  437.  
  438. &lt;p&gt;Goldman Sachs expects both sides to cut tariffs by more than half when negotiations are over.&lt;/p&gt;
  439.  
  440. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/US%20China%20tariffs%20revised%20Goldman.png?itok=a6Mwsa0v" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/US%20China%20tariffs%20revised%20Goldman.png?itok=a6Mwsa0v"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="7fc15540-e3bf-47ff-b07b-0e81f756874c" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="334" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/US%20China%20tariffs%20revised%20Goldman.png?itok=a6Mwsa0v" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  441.  
  442. &lt;p&gt;Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has aggressively used tariffs as his favorite economic weapon. He has imposed a 10% tax on imports from almost every country in the world.&lt;/p&gt;
  443.  
  444. &lt;p&gt;But the fight with China has been the most intense. His tariffs on China include a 20% charge meant to pressure Beijing into doing more to stop the flow of the synthetic opioid fentanyl into the United States.&lt;/p&gt;
  445.  
  446. &lt;p&gt;The remaining 125% involve a dispute that dates back to Trump’s first term and comes atop tariffs he levied on China back then, which means the total tariffs on some Chinese goods can exceed 145%.&lt;/p&gt;
  447.  
  448. &lt;p&gt;Total US tariffs on Asian countries in context are shown below.&lt;/p&gt;
  449.  
  450. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/us%20tariffs%20on%20asia%20in%20context.jpg?itok=VbtM-SkN" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/us%20tariffs%20on%20asia%20in%20context.jpg?itok=VbtM-SkN"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="d846e69a-99f5-4e5f-b9ca-b395a8edc6b1" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="360" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/us%20tariffs%20on%20asia%20in%20context.jpg?itok=VbtM-SkN" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  451.  
  452. &lt;p&gt;During Trump's first term, the U.S. alleged that China uses unfair tactics to give itself an edge in advanced technologies such as quantum computing and driverless cars. These include forcing U.S. and other foreign companies to hand over trade secrets in exchange for access to the Chinese market; using government money to subsidize domestic tech firms; and outright theft of sensitive technologies.&lt;/p&gt;
  453.  
  454. &lt;p&gt;Those issues were never fully resolved. After nearly two years of negotiation, the United States and China reached a so-called Phase One agreement in January 2020. The US agreed then not to go ahead with even higher tariffs on China, and Beijing agreed to buy more American products. The tough issues - such as China’s subsidies - were left for future negotiations.&lt;/p&gt;
  455.  
  456. &lt;p&gt;But China didn’t come through with the promised purchases, partly because COVID-19 disrupted global commerce just after the Phase One truce was announced. As a result, America's trade deficit with China came to a staggering $263 billion last year.&lt;/p&gt;
  457.  
  458. &lt;p&gt;The fight over China's tech policy now resumes.&lt;/p&gt;
  459.  
  460. &lt;p&gt;&lt;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/"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="bdab1b90-5407-4ed5-abbb-cf76f0091bc0" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="287" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/BEEF%20INIT%20SUNDAY%20NIGHT%20JPG.jpg?itok=JF46D7mv" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  461.  
  462. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://store.zerohedge.com/steak-lover-s-bundle"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Steak Lover's Bundle&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  463.  
  464. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://store.zerohedge.com/wagyu-grill-out-bundle"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Wagyu Grill-Out Bundle&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  465.  
  466. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://store.zerohedge.com/slims-finest-10lb-ground-bundle"&gt;&lt;em&gt;80/20 Ground Beef&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  467. &lt;/div&gt;
  468.      &lt;span rel="schema:author" class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"&gt;&lt;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="" class="username" xml:lang=""&gt;Tyler Durden&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
  469. &lt;span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-05-11T14:11:30+00:00" class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"&gt;Sun, 05/11/2025 - 10:11&lt;/span&gt;
  470. </description>
  471.  <pubDate>Sun, 11 May 2025 14:11:30 +0000</pubDate>
  472.    <dc:creator>Tyler Durden</dc:creator>
  473.    <guid isPermaLink="false">1029405 at https://www.zerohedge.com</guid>
  474.    </item>
  475. <item>
  476.  <title>DeBeers Shutting Down Its Lab-Grown Diamond Brand</title>
  477.  <link>https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/debeers-shutting-down-its-lab-grown-diamond-brand</link>
  478.  <description>&lt;span property="schema:name" class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden"&gt;DeBeers Shutting Down Its Lab-Grown Diamond Brand&lt;/span&gt;
  479.  
  480.            &lt;div property="schema:text" class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"&gt;&lt;p&gt;De Beers, the world’s largest diamond producer by value, is shutting down its lab-grown diamond jewelery brand, Lightbox, marking a strategic retreat from selling synthetic gems to consumers, according to a report from &lt;a href="https://www.mining.com/de-beers-to-shut-down-lab-grown-diamond-brand-lightbox/?amp=1"&gt;mining.com&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
  481.  
  482. &lt;p&gt;This move aligns with De Beers’ renewed commitment to natural diamonds, a return to the philosophy behind its iconic “Diamonds are Forever” slogan, the report says.&lt;/p&gt;
  483.  
  484. &lt;p&gt;The decision also follows parent company Anglo American’s efforts to streamline operations as part of a broader restructuring. Anglo American, which put De Beers up for sale last year, continues to evaluate options for the 137-year-old business.&lt;/p&gt;
  485.  
  486. &lt;p&gt;The mining.com &lt;a href="https://www.mining.com/de-beers-to-shut-down-lab-grown-diamond-brand-lightbox/?amp=1"&gt;report&lt;/a&gt; says that De Beers entered the lab-grown jewelery market in 2018, reversing its long-held policy of limiting synthetic stones to industrial uses.&lt;/p&gt;
  487.  
  488. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/diamond_3.jpg?itok=qGsAzZPa" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/diamond_3.jpg?itok=qGsAzZPa"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="9b4d4d89-6a99-44ee-8f0e-6455f83fc94e" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="345" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/diamond_3.jpg?itok=qGsAzZPa" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  489.  
  490. &lt;p&gt;However, in June last year, it announced a production halt for Lightbox as part of a five-year plan to simplify its operations and reassert its leadership in the natural diamond and diamond jewelery market.&lt;/p&gt;
  491.  
  492. &lt;p&gt;Element Six, De Beers’ synthetic diamond division that previously supplied Lightbox, will now concentrate exclusively on industrial markets.&lt;/p&gt;
  493.  
  494. &lt;p&gt;“Element Six is well-positioned to seize the rapidly growing potential for synthetic diamond applications across a range of future-facing technologies,” the company stated.&lt;/p&gt;
  495.  
  496. &lt;p&gt;This exit from the synthetic jewelery space comes amid significant turbulence in the diamond market. Weak demand from China and an oversupply of lab-grown diamonds have depressed prices, complicating Anglo American’s plans to divest.&lt;/p&gt;
  497.  
  498. &lt;p&gt;After recording a $1.6 billion writedown last year, Anglo American further slashed De Beers’ valuation by $2.9 billion in February. At that time, CEO Duncan Wanblad noted that De Beers could remain part of the group until 2026, depending on market conditions.&lt;/p&gt;
  499. &lt;/div&gt;
  500.      &lt;span rel="schema:author" class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"&gt;&lt;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="" class="username" xml:lang=""&gt;Tyler Durden&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
  501. &lt;span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-05-11T13:55:00+00:00" class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"&gt;Sun, 05/11/2025 - 09:55&lt;/span&gt;
  502. </description>
  503.  <pubDate>Sun, 11 May 2025 13:55:00 +0000</pubDate>
  504.    <dc:creator>Tyler Durden</dc:creator>
  505.    <guid isPermaLink="false">1029211 at https://www.zerohedge.com</guid>
  506.    </item>
  507. <item>
  508.  <title>Freight Fraud, Cargo Theft, Deadly Collisions - Ghost Carriers Are Growing National Security Threat</title>
  509.  <link>https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/freight-fraud-cargo-theft-deadly-collisions-ghost-carriers-are-growing-national-security</link>
  510.  <description>&lt;span property="schema:name" class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden"&gt;Freight Fraud, Cargo Theft, Deadly Collisions - Ghost Carriers Are Growing National Security Threat&lt;/span&gt;
  511.  
  512.            &lt;div property="schema:text" class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Submitted by &lt;a href="https://americantruckers.com/"&gt;American Truckers United&lt;/a&gt;'s &lt;a href="https://autonomoustruckers.substack.com/"&gt;Gord Magill&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  513.  
  514. &lt;p&gt;On Tuesday, May 6, &lt;strong&gt;another in a pattern of horrific crashes&lt;/strong&gt; involving 18-wheelers in America took place, this time in the small town of Thomasville, Alabama, about a hundred miles north of Mobile. In a video that went viral earlier this week, we see a &lt;strong&gt;tractor-trailer drive full speed into stopped traffic at an intersection&lt;/strong&gt;, almost as if on purpose. &lt;strong&gt;Cars appeared to be vaporized&lt;/strong&gt; in the crash, or flung aside as if toys. Two innocent motorists were &lt;strong&gt;killed instantly&lt;/strong&gt;, and four others sent to the hospital.&lt;/p&gt;
  515.  
  516. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet"&gt;
  517. &lt;p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en" xml:lang="en"&gt;🚨Non-Citizen Eighteen Wheeler Crash in Thomasville, AL involves two truck drivers operating on Work Visas. Two people have been killed and 3 people are injured.&lt;a href="https://t.co/iTT1HLleJM"&gt;https://t.co/iTT1HLleJM&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="https://t.co/n43ar5Yeei"&gt;pic.twitter.com/n43ar5Yeei&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  518. — American Truckers (@atutruckers) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/atutruckers/status/1920187966778974670?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 7, 2025&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
  519. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The driver of the semi, Andrii Dmyterko, 45,&lt;/strong&gt; was arrested and charged with two counts of vehicular manslaughter.  What is &lt;a href="https://tuscaloosathread.com/thomasville-alabama-wreck/"&gt;notable&lt;/a&gt; about Mr Dmyterko is that &lt;strong&gt;he is in the United States from Ukraine on a work visa, &lt;/strong&gt;and there are some &lt;strong&gt;hard questions to be asked&lt;/strong&gt; about the &lt;strong&gt;trucking company he worked for, called "4 US Transportation Company" whose address was registered to a Pizza joint in Darien, Illinois. &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt; &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  520.  
  521. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet"&gt;
  522. &lt;p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en" xml:lang="en"&gt;Looks like the address is actually a shared building for Dunkin’s as well as Padrino’s Pizza, which the Pavlovic’s also operate. &lt;a href="https://t.co/neCA4DPptx"&gt;pic.twitter.com/neCA4DPptx&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  523. — Samantha (@Yosamboh) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/Yosamboh/status/1920496487680655750?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 8, 2025&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
  524. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;p&gt;If this &lt;strong&gt;incident sounds familiar&lt;/strong&gt;, that is because it is. Back on March 13 in Austin, Texas,  a truck driver named &lt;strong&gt;Solomun Weldekeal-Araya crashed his truck into parked traffic on Interstate 35, killing five people&lt;/strong&gt;, including an entire family, and sending another 11 to hospital.&lt;/p&gt;
  525.  
  526. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/2025-05-10_10-20-33.png?itok=F0oM93hV" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/2025-05-10_10-20-33.png?itok=F0oM93hV"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="8c16c02e-3905-43f3-9e6c-4fa47a3f58c7" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="280" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/2025-05-10_10-20-33.png?itok=F0oM93hV" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  527.  
  528. &lt;p&gt;Mr Araya reportedly did not slow down, and his rig didn't stop until it had smashed into 17 vehicles. Mr Araya, &lt;strong&gt;originally from Ethiopia, was likewise in America on a work visa, and in this incident&lt;/strong&gt;, was working for a subcontractor hauling products for Amazon. And just like the company Mr Dmyterko was working for, they are likewise &lt;strong&gt;registered to a very random address&lt;/strong&gt;, this time an apartment complex in Dallas, TX.&lt;/p&gt;
  529.  
  530. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet"&gt;
  531. &lt;p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en" xml:lang="en"&gt;Solomun Weldekeal Araya, an 18-wheeler driver who was arrested and is facing intoxication charges after a North Austin crash that claimed five lives, including a four-year-old and an infant, was a contract driver for Amazon on a work visa from Ethiopia.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
  532. He was transporting… &lt;a href="https://t.co/jAQXvL5OIM"&gt;pic.twitter.com/jAQXvL5OIM&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  533. — Sarah Fields (@SarahisCensored) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/SarahisCensored/status/1904577508432814321?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;March 25, 2025&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
  534. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;p&gt;Over and above the &lt;strong&gt;epidemic of fatal collisions&lt;/strong&gt; taking place on American roads &lt;strong&gt;involving Big Rigs&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;&lt;u&gt;driven by insourced labor of dubious training&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;, language proficiency, or competence, these same types of companies are involved in other major issues such as Freight Fraud and Cargo Theft. The &lt;strong&gt;new term for these companies is 'Ghost Carriers'&lt;/strong&gt; given that contrary to &lt;a href="https://www.dotfiler.com/dot-number/?gad_source=1&amp;gad_campaignid=22102024957"&gt;regulations&lt;/a&gt;, they are often registered at addresses that are not their primary place of business, and where you would never see the trucks that they direct. The amount of fraud and theft they are often involved with has gotten so out of hand that even the &lt;strong&gt;mainstream media is starting to notice&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
  535.  
  536. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/investigates/why-one-dallas-building-houses-20-different-trucking-companies-and-is-that-legal/287-9e6dcdcd-deb4-422e-baa2-ee97ea01f9b6"&gt;WFAA&lt;/a&gt;, an ABC affiliate out of Fort Worth, Texas, has been running a series on this issue, and in one of their pieces, reveal some astounding numbers with regards to all of these '&lt;strong&gt;Ghosts&lt;/strong&gt;'. &lt;/p&gt;
  537.  
  538. &lt;blockquote&gt;
  539. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;When a company registers with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, or FMCSA, it must list its principal place of business — a real, physical location where safety and driver records are kept and where federal inspectors can conduct onsite reviews. &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  540.  
  541. &lt;p&gt;"&lt;strong&gt;It's&lt;em&gt; a red flag&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;," said Dale Prax, who owns Freight Validate, a company &lt;a href="https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/investigates/new-wave-of-cargo-theft-hitting-trucking-industry-and-texas-is-getting-hit-the-hardest/287-bdafe4d3-b012-4465-b8b0-fc46ca4f85c8"&gt;that tracks fraud and identity theft in the trucking industry&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  542.  
  543. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Prax said hidden carriers often use virtual addresses or P.O. boxes to avoid scrutiny, making it harder for regulators to keep tabs on them.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  544.  
  545. &lt;p&gt;"&lt;em&gt;The bad guys are less apt to register properly," Prax said. &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  546.  
  547. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;He pointed to one example: a quiet office in Signal Hill, California. There's a sign out front that says, &lt;/em&gt;"&lt;em&gt;No Trucks Allowed."  &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  548.  
  549. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Yet federal records show nearly 700 trucking companies linked to that single location — roughly 500 of which list the same phone number and email: &lt;a href="mailto:WTFFMCSA@aol.com"&gt;WTFFMCSA@aol.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;. &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  550. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  551.  
  552. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How difficult is it for investigators looking into these crashes when so many of these companies are owned through layers of LLCs&lt;/strong&gt;, many of them registered to random locations all over the country where their trucks will never actually stop? How many of these companies are taking advantage of a decades-old lie about a shortage of truckers to then insource labor, often using companies based in Eastern Europe? &lt;/p&gt;
  553.  
  554. &lt;p&gt;Speaking of that Balkan Truckers website and the incident in Alabama, it seems that the lady who manages that website is a relative or possibly the wife of the owner of the truck that killed those people,  and she has some interesting possible connections to American Politics -&lt;/p&gt;
  555.  
  556. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet"&gt;
  557. &lt;p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en" xml:lang="en"&gt;Definitely something fishy (and huge) here. &lt;a href="https://t.co/J5ZEu23m1o"&gt;pic.twitter.com/J5ZEu23m1o&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  558. — Samantha (@Yosamboh) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/Yosamboh/status/1920437016782631107?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 8, 2025&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
  559. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;p&gt;X user Maybe Danielle has likewise been using the Federal SAFER system to look up '&lt;strong&gt;Ghost Carriers&lt;/strong&gt;' and has been finding more than a few anomalies.&lt;/p&gt;
  560.  
  561. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet"&gt;
  562. &lt;p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en" xml:lang="en"&gt;Here's an interesting one—a bit speculative.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
  563. - 2 Addresses, USDOTs registered per highlighted rows.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
  564. - One under construction home (Google maps).&lt;br /&gt;
  565. - One US Postal Center.&lt;br /&gt;
  566. - 5 miles apart.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
  567. - Owners have the same last name where OOS% is given.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
  568. - Lots of legal docs on the… &lt;a href="https://t.co/XXO1c5XVig"&gt;pic.twitter.com/XXO1c5XVig&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  569. — may be danielle 💻🚛 (@maybedanielleee) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/maybedanielleee/status/1919563110584668479?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 6, 2025&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
  570. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet"&gt;
  571. &lt;p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en" xml:lang="en"&gt;3 registered USDOTs @ one physical address— great stats here. &lt;a href="https://t.co/3JkCfqnMmQ"&gt;pic.twitter.com/3JkCfqnMmQ&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  572. — may be danielle 💻🚛 (@maybedanielleee) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/maybedanielleee/status/1919543187938361843?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 6, 2025&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
  573. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;p&gt;On Friday, &lt;a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2025/05/09/cargo-thieves-attack-supply-chain.html"&gt;CNBC&lt;/a&gt; investigative journalist Courtney Reagan dropped a major investigative report into the problem with freight fraud and cargo theft, and her report shares &lt;strong&gt;similarities to what we are seeing with Ghost Carriers and insourced labor causing deadly wrecks on our roads&lt;/strong&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;
  574.  
  575. &lt;p&gt;Reagan spoke with Keith Lewis, VP of Verisk CargoNet, a cargo theft mitigation company.&lt;/p&gt;
  576.  
  577. &lt;blockquote&gt;
  578. &lt;p&gt;"&lt;em&gt;Why is it so easy to commit cargo theft and fraud online?"&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  579.  
  580. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;"Think of it as identity theft, there's no bread crumb trail to follow, it's a ghost."&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  581.  
  582. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;"What countries could they (the scammers) be in?"&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  583.  
  584. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;"We have traced them to 32 different countries."&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  585. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  586.  
  587. &lt;p&gt;Reagan also spoke with Jordan Graft, CEO of Highway, who operate a carrier vetting software system for freight brokers and shippers.&lt;/p&gt;
  588.  
  589. &lt;blockquote&gt;
  590. &lt;p&gt;"&lt;em&gt;Highway says it's software blocked more than 914,000 fraud attempts and saw almost 10,000 carrier users from 75 countries trying to gain unauthorized access to its platform … most of those attempts originated from six countries : India, Mexico, Moldova, Pakistan, Serbia, and Uzbekistan."&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  591. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  592.  
  593. &lt;p&gt;If you read between the lines of these media reports on freight fraud and cargo theft, and then follow the trail from deadly collisions on our highways involving insourced labor to layers of scammy LLCs registered all over the country, &lt;strong&gt;a picture begins to emerge showing that the United States supply chain system is being parasitized by offshore entities, looking to scrape value from the economy, or worse&lt;/strong&gt;. Perhaps some of those offshore entities have different plans - look at the crashes in Texas and Alabama - those drivers did not slow down at all. Were those innocent motorists the victims of a stealth and distributed terror attack system which has taken advantage of all these holes in the American trucking industry? &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Are these Ghost Carriers&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;, left unchecked by any authorities, going to continue producing more ghosts out of innocent dead Americans?&lt;/p&gt;
  594.  
  595. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;President Trump&lt;/strong&gt; recently wrote an &lt;strong&gt;Executive Order re-enforcing English Language requirements of all those who hold a CDL&lt;/strong&gt; and drive big trucks in the United States. This is a &lt;strong&gt;great first step&lt;/strong&gt; to help address this clear safety and security threat to America, but more needs to be done to clean out the "back end" parts of the industry which do not pass through DOT or police checkpoints out on the road; the two issues are clearly related and &lt;u&gt;&lt;strong&gt;involve a hell of a lot of people who are not Americans&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/u&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;
  596. &lt;/div&gt;
  597.      &lt;span rel="schema:author" class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"&gt;&lt;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="" class="username" xml:lang=""&gt;Tyler Durden&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
  598. &lt;span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-05-11T13:20:00+00:00" class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"&gt;Sun, 05/11/2025 - 09:20&lt;/span&gt;
  599. </description>
  600.  <pubDate>Sun, 11 May 2025 13:20:00 +0000</pubDate>
  601.    <dc:creator>Tyler Durden</dc:creator>
  602.    <guid isPermaLink="false">1029367 at https://www.zerohedge.com</guid>
  603.    </item>
  604. <item>
  605.  <title>Sweden's Security Adviser Resigns Less Than 24 Hours After Appointment After 'Sensitive' Grindr Pictures Emerge</title>
  606.  <link>https://www.zerohedge.com/political/swedens-security-adviser-resigns-less-24-hours-after-appointment-after-sensitive-grindr</link>
  607.  <description>&lt;span property="schema:name" class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden"&gt;Sweden's Security Adviser Resigns Less Than 24 Hours After Appointment After 'Sensitive' Grindr Pictures Emerge&lt;/span&gt;
  608.  
  609.            &lt;div property="schema:text" class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"&gt;&lt;p&gt;Sweden’s national security apparatus was once again thrust into disarray Friday after &lt;strong&gt;Tobias Thyberg, newly appointed as National Security Adviser, resigned less than 24 hours into the job over 'sensitive' photos tied to a past dating app profile.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  610. &lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/GettyImages-1238136186-scaled_jpg_92.jpg?itok=gnELp12r" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/GettyImages-1238136186-scaled_jpg_92.jpg?itok=gnELp12r"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;figure role="group" class="caption caption-img inline-images image-style-inline-images"&gt;&lt;img alt="" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="a29e4124-9247-4c6a-ae94-ce9fa8b7ce59" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="333" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/GettyImages-1238136186-scaled_jpg_92.jpg?itok=gnELp12r" typeof="foaf:Image" width="500" /&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;&lt;em&gt;Thyberg admitted Thursday evening to failing to disclose information during the recruitment process that he was obligated to share. | Yuliia Ovsyannikova/Ukrinform via Getty Images&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
  611.  
  612. &lt;p&gt;The abrupt departure marks the second consecutive scandal for the nation’s top security post, raising questions about vetting procedures and institutional stability at a time when Sweden is navigating rising geopolitical tension in Northern and Eastern Europe, &lt;a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/sweden-tobias-thyberg-national-security-adviser-resigns-grindr-photo-scandal/"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Politico&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt; reports.&lt;/p&gt;
  613.  
  614. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;"Shortly after the government’s decision yesterday to appoint Tobias Thyberg, entirely new personal information about him emerged&lt;/strong&gt;," said Johan Stuart, State Secretary to Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, in a statement. “This is, of course, serious.”&lt;/p&gt;
  615.  
  616. &lt;p&gt;According to Stuart, Thyberg admitted Thursday evening that he failed to disclose relevant personal information during the recruitment process, which he was obligated to share. He voluntarily withdrew from the position soon after. Annika Brändström, deputy national security adviser, will serve in an interim capacity while a new search begins.&lt;/p&gt;
  617.  
  618. &lt;p&gt;The resignation followed inquiries from &lt;em&gt;Dagens Nyheter&lt;/em&gt;, Sweden’s largest newspaper,&lt;strong&gt; which &lt;a href="https://www.dn.se/sverige/nya-sakerhetsradgivaren-stoppas-regeringskansliet-har-fatt-helt-ny-information/"&gt;contacted&lt;/a&gt; Thyberg regarding "sensitive" images linked to a defunct Grindr dating profile.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  619.  
  620. &lt;p&gt;“&lt;strong&gt;These are old pictures from an account I previously had on the dating site Grindr&lt;/strong&gt;,” Thyberg told the paper. “I should have informed [the government] about this but I didn’t. I have therefore said I do not intend to take up the position.”&lt;/p&gt;
  621.  
  622. &lt;p&gt;Thyberg’s professional record includes stints as ambassador to Afghanistan (2017–2019), ambassador to Ukraine until 2023, and most recently, as head of the foreign ministry’s unit for Eastern Europe and Central Asia—regions critical to Sweden’s expanding defense posture following its accession to NATO in March 2024.&lt;/p&gt;
  623.  
  624. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="https://siphox.zhstore.com/" data-image-href="https://siphox.zhstore.com/" data-link-option="2" href="https://siphox.zhstore.com/"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="ff2f1f47-6f41-4f04-9234-15b859f2be72" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="141" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/SiPhox_11.png?itok=6ufMAcZ8" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  625.  
  626. &lt;p&gt;The latest resignation deepens the sense of instability around the position. &lt;strong&gt;Thyberg’s predecessor, Henrik Landerholm, stepped down in January after a prosecutor opened an investigation into his mishandling of highly classified documents at a conference facility in 2023.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  627.  
  628. &lt;p&gt;Sweden has only had two national security advisers since creating the role in 2022, both now felled by unforced errors. While the office itself remains operational, the pattern has drawn scrutiny from opposition lawmakers and national security observers who warn that persistent turnover in the post risks undermining Sweden’s credibility among Western allies.&lt;/p&gt;
  629.  
  630. &lt;p&gt;For now, &lt;strong&gt;the Kristersson government faces the delicate task of finding a third appointee&lt;/strong&gt; - someone with deep regional expertise, but without the kind of personal baggage that could once again make headlines.&lt;/p&gt;
  631. &lt;/div&gt;
  632.      &lt;span rel="schema:author" class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"&gt;&lt;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="" class="username" xml:lang=""&gt;Tyler Durden&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
  633. &lt;span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-05-11T12:45:00+00:00" class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"&gt;Sun, 05/11/2025 - 08:45&lt;/span&gt;
  634. </description>
  635.  <pubDate>Sun, 11 May 2025 12:45:00 +0000</pubDate>
  636.    <dc:creator>Tyler Durden</dc:creator>
  637.    <guid isPermaLink="false">1029398 at https://www.zerohedge.com</guid>
  638.    </item>
  639. <item>
  640.  <title>Is Biden's Family Deliberately Screwing With Democrats?</title>
  641.  <link>https://www.zerohedge.com/political/bidens-family-deliberately-screwing-democrats</link>
  642.  <description>&lt;span property="schema:name" class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden"&gt;Is Biden's Family Deliberately Screwing With Democrats?&lt;/span&gt;
  643.  
  644.            &lt;div property="schema:text" class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://modernity.news/2025/05/10/are-bidens-family-deliberately-screwing-with-democrats"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  645.  
  646. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Democrats are reportedly extremely unhappy with the fact that Joe Biden’s family and his handlers are wheeling him out for interviews knowing full well that he’s completely out of it and that practically anything he says has the potential to harm their already dismal standing.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  647.  
  648. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/Biden-1_1.jpg?itok=tQ03YHTG" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/Biden-1_1.jpg?itok=tQ03YHTG"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="513a34a0-33bd-4cdf-b3cc-0269b364fe62" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="281" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/Biden-1_1.jpg?itok=tQ03YHTG" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  649.  
  650. &lt;p&gt;As we highlighted this past week, Biden slurred and stumbled his way through an interview with the BBC wherein he claimed that he still believes he would have won the election had he stayed in the race.&lt;/p&gt;
  651.  
  652. &lt;p&gt;&lt;iframe class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="rg4cgPxmjE" frameborder="0" height="500" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" sandbox="allow-scripts" scrolling="no" security="restricted" src="https://modernity.news/2025/05/08/decrepit-biden-makes-incredible-claim-in-bbc-interview/embed/#?secret=rg4cgPxmjE" title="“Decrepit Biden Makes Incredible Claim In BBC Interview…” — modernity" width="600"&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  653.  
  654. &lt;p&gt;In a further disastrous appearance on The View he claimed that Kamala Harris lost because most voters are racist and sexist.&lt;/p&gt;
  655.  
  656. &lt;p&gt;He also had to be helped out by his carer Dr Jill when he was asked to comment on his obvious cognitive decline, because he couldn’t muster a coherent sentence.&lt;/p&gt;
  657.  
  658. &lt;p&gt;&lt;iframe class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="Bgah1A0Pyz" frameborder="0" height="500" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" sandbox="allow-scripts" scrolling="no" security="restricted" src="https://modernity.news/2025/05/09/the-elder-abuse-contiunes/embed/#?secret=Bgah1A0Pyz" title="“The Elder Abuse Continues…” — modernity" width="600"&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  659.  
  660. &lt;p&gt;Now it’s being reported that Democrats are fuming behind the scenes, and they just want Biden to fade away.&lt;/p&gt;
  661.  
  662. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet"&gt;
  663. &lt;p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en" xml:lang="en"&gt;🚨 If you thought Joe Biden was prepared to exit stage left to the serene beaches of Delaware, think again!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
  664. This week, Biden reemerged from the shadows.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
  665. Some Democrats are not too happy with the reputation rehabilitation tour! ⬇️ &lt;a href="https://t.co/90IieTuwtq"&gt;pic.twitter.com/90IieTuwtq&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  666. — Kayleigh McEnany (@kayleighmcenany) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/kayleighmcenany/status/1921011938374320224?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 10, 2025&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
  667. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/5291197-biden-interview-criticism-dems/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank"&gt;The Hill&lt;/a&gt; reports:&lt;/p&gt;
  668.  
  669. &lt;p&gt;Democrats are blasting former President Biden’s reemergence in the spotlight following his interview Thursday on “The View,” his second major postpresidency interview…&lt;/p&gt;
  670.  
  671. &lt;p&gt;Yet some Democrats are criticizing Biden’s recent appearances, arguing the former president is becoming a drag on the party as it seeks to rebuild following its widespread losses in 2024.&lt;/p&gt;
  672.  
  673. &lt;p&gt;“Elections are about the future. Every time Joe Biden emerges, we fight an old war,” said Democratic strategist Anthony Coley, who worked for the Biden administration. “Every interview he does provides a contrast to Trump that’s just not helpful for the Democratic brand, which needs trusted messengers and fighters who can reach independents and moderates and inspire the base. Joe Biden ain’t that.”…&lt;/p&gt;
  674.  
  675. &lt;p&gt;The report also notes that the consensus, according to one Democratic strategist, is that Biden needs to One Democratic strategist said Biden needs to “take responsibility for his actions” and “own up to the fact that he caused Democrats to lose.”&lt;/p&gt;
  676.  
  677. &lt;p&gt;“I don’t think there’s a willingness to cop to the fact that he should never have run again in the first place,” the strategist said, adding “Why can’t he come out and acknowledge that part of this is on him?”&lt;/p&gt;
  678.  
  679. &lt;p&gt;Maybe because they instigated a coup against him and now his family want a bit of sweet revenge?&lt;/p&gt;
  680.  
  681. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none"&gt;
  682. &lt;p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en" xml:lang="en"&gt;He’s making more appearances than he did for his entire Presidency!!&lt;/p&gt;
  683. — MagaCowboy (@cowboyracing500) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/cowboyracing500/status/1921066353592594905?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 10, 2025&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
  684. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet"&gt;
  685. &lt;p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en" xml:lang="en"&gt;Relax, &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/DNC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;@DNC&lt;/a&gt;. This is the best &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/JoeBiden?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;@JoeBiden&lt;/a&gt; ever. He's sharp as a tack. Biden 2028!!!&lt;/p&gt;
  686. — .𝕩𝕏 SJV 𝕏𝕩. (@sjvsworldtour) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/sjvsworldtour/status/1921056304581214262?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 10, 2025&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
  687. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none"&gt;
  688. &lt;p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en" xml:lang="en"&gt;Comical.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
  689. Less than a year ago they said he was sharp as a tac and at the top of his game. Now they eat their own. 🤣🤣🤣&lt;/p&gt;
  690. — Organic Oracle Outlaw 🤠 (@OrganicOracle) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/OrganicOracle/status/1920847990194893031?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 9, 2025&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
  691. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none"&gt;
  692. &lt;p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en" xml:lang="en"&gt;Democrats lied about his condition, because of Trump.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
  693. Just a reminder that they will do anything to win, even if that means lying to the American public.&lt;/p&gt;
  694. — Arthur Morgan (@ArthurMorganTX) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/ArthurMorganTX/status/1920834585291591937?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 9, 2025&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
  695. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none"&gt;
  696. &lt;p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en" xml:lang="en"&gt;There was no way the Biden team would just shuffle off into obscurity. They don't have enough resources to maintain the lifestyle to which they have become accustomed. So they're looking for a little golden parachute action to help them float into their comfortable sunset. And…&lt;/p&gt;
  697. — Robert J. Thomas (@RobertJThomas1) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/RobertJThomas1/status/1921157596527939647?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 10, 2025&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
  698. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none"&gt;
  699. &lt;p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en" xml:lang="en"&gt;Jill is draging him around on her leash. She can't stand being out of the limelight and corridors of greed, coruption and power. She could carekess how ineffectual he is, she just takes over when he fails. If he were a decent person, I'd feel sorry for him, but he's not.&lt;/p&gt;
  700. — Paul Paquette (@PaulPaquette51) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/PaulPaquette51/status/1921033302590279839?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 10, 2025&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
  701. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;p&gt;*  *  *&lt;/p&gt;
  702.  
  703. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Your support is crucial in helping us defeat mass censorship. Please consider donating via &lt;a href="https://pauljosephwatson.locals.com/support"&gt;Locals&lt;/a&gt; or check out our unique &lt;a href="https://www.modernity.news/shop"&gt;merch&lt;/a&gt;. Follow us on X &lt;a href="https://x.com/modernitynews"&gt;@ModernityNews&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
  704. &lt;/div&gt;
  705.      &lt;span rel="schema:author" class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"&gt;&lt;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="" class="username" xml:lang=""&gt;Tyler Durden&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
  706. &lt;span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-05-11T12:10:00+00:00" class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"&gt;Sun, 05/11/2025 - 08:10&lt;/span&gt;
  707. </description>
  708.  <pubDate>Sun, 11 May 2025 12:10:00 +0000</pubDate>
  709.    <dc:creator>Tyler Durden</dc:creator>
  710.    <guid isPermaLink="false">1029387 at https://www.zerohedge.com</guid>
  711.    </item>
  712. <item>
  713.  <title>Slovakia's Fico Hits Back At EU Criticism For Attending Moscow V-Day Parade</title>
  714.  <link>https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/slovakias-fico-hits-back-eu-critics-attending-moscow-victory-day-parade</link>
  715.  <description>&lt;span property="schema:name" class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden"&gt;Slovakia's Fico Hits Back At EU Criticism For Attending Moscow V-Day Parade&lt;/span&gt;
  716.  
  717.            &lt;div property="schema:text" class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"&gt;&lt;p&gt;Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico was the &lt;strong&gt;only leader of a European Union country to travel to Moscow in observance of the 80th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
  718.  
  719. &lt;p&gt;He's received plenty of condemnation from across the EU, also including protests against him in the Slovak capital of Bratislava, where people &lt;a href="https://apnews.com/article/slovakia-fico-protest-russia-5828ccfa1cbde78f26753d6195e25829"&gt;were heard chanting&lt;/a&gt; "We’ve had enough of Fico," and "Slovakia is Europe," and "Stay there" - in reference to Fico being in Russia.&lt;/p&gt;
  720. &lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/ficoputin.png?itok=yZWwVliW" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/ficoputin.png?itok=yZWwVliW"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;figure role="group" class="caption caption-img inline-images image-style-inline-images"&gt;&lt;img alt="" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="2d4f58df-c68c-4723-99ce-bde67985fb9d" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="281" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/ficoputin.png?itok=yZWwVliW" typeof="foaf:Image" width="500" /&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;&lt;em&gt;Via the Kremlin&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
  721.  
  722. &lt;p&gt;While meeting with President Vladimir Putin on Friday, he reportedly conveyed a &lt;strong&gt;pledge to veto against banning the import of Russian energy to Europe&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
  723.  
  724. &lt;p&gt;"Stopping supplies could cause technological problems," he said, according to Russian media and other international reports.&lt;/p&gt;
  725.  
  726. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;"If the decision requires agreement from all 27 EU member states, we will use our veto right against banning the import of all types of energy resources," &lt;/strong&gt;Fico &lt;a href="https://www.rt.com/business/617281-fico-veto-russia-energy-ban/"&gt;declared&lt;/a&gt;. He added, "If it’s decided by a majority vote instead of unanimity, then the big states will impose their will."&lt;/p&gt;
  727.  
  728. &lt;p&gt;Fico also characterized Europe's anti-Russia sanctions as ultimately ineffective and having blown back on the EU itself. &lt;/p&gt;
  729.  
  730. &lt;p&gt;He further denounced Western efforts to build a "new Iron Curtain" - and filmed the provocative comments with English translation:&lt;/p&gt;
  731.  
  732. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet"&gt;
  733. &lt;p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en" xml:lang="en"&gt;I reject the rise of a new Iron Curtain. The EU urgently needs to return to common sense, because the current proposal to completely cut off Russian energy supplies is not a plan for economic independence, but for suicide. &lt;a href="https://t.co/kjmi9bgbFJ"&gt;pic.twitter.com/kjmi9bgbFJ&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  734. — Robert Fico 🇸🇰 (@RobertFicoSVK) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/RobertFicoSVK/status/1920510989482578407?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 8, 2025&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
  735. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;p&gt;And PM Fico further blasted his EU critics, especially the EU's top diplomat Kaja Kallas - who tried to thwart and forbid such a trip to Moscow. She had &lt;a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/may/09/slovakia-serbia-leaders-defy-eu-russian-military-parade-victory-day"&gt;written&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;strong&gt;"All those who truly support peace cannot stand side-by-side with Putin. Those who truly support peace should be in Ukraine tomorrow, not Moscow." &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  736.  
  737. &lt;p&gt;"Ms. Kallas, I would like to inform you that I am the legitimate Prime Minister of Slovakia – a sovereign country. No one can dictate to me where I can or cannot travel," he responded.&lt;/p&gt;
  738.  
  739. &lt;blockquote&gt;
  740. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;"&lt;strong&gt;I will go to Moscow to pay tribute to the thousands of Red Army soldiers who died liberating Slovakia&lt;/strong&gt;, as well as to the millions of other victims of Nazi terror," &lt;a href="https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/slovak-premier-slams-eus-kallas-for-warning-over-moscow-visit-for-victory-day-commemorations/3540164"&gt;Fico said&lt;/a&gt;, adding that he &lt;strong&gt;also honors Allied forces such as RAF pilots and those who died during the Normandy landings&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  741. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  742.  
  743. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet"&gt;
  744. &lt;p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en" xml:lang="en"&gt;Dear Mrs. High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs, Kaja Kallas &lt;a href="https://t.co/zRnpt66cqR"&gt;pic.twitter.com/zRnpt66cqR&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  745. — Robert Fico 🇸🇰 (@RobertFicoSVK) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/RobertFicoSVK/status/1920873213438873638?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 9, 2025&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
  746. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;p&gt;But Kallas has said, "I’ve called all the member states, but also representatives of the institutions, to visit Kyiv as much as possible to show really our solidarity and that we are with Ukraine." A number of Western leaders heeded the call and went to the Ukrainian capital Friday and Saturday.&lt;/p&gt;
  747. &lt;/div&gt;
  748.      &lt;span rel="schema:author" class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"&gt;&lt;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="" class="username" xml:lang=""&gt;Tyler Durden&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
  749. &lt;span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-05-11T11:35:00+00:00" class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"&gt;Sun, 05/11/2025 - 07:35&lt;/span&gt;
  750. </description>
  751.  <pubDate>Sun, 11 May 2025 11:35:00 +0000</pubDate>
  752.    <dc:creator>Tyler Durden</dc:creator>
  753.    <guid isPermaLink="false">1029374 at https://www.zerohedge.com</guid>
  754.    </item>
  755. <item>
  756.  <title>Pipelineistan War: Syria Announces Major Natural Gas Deal With Turkey</title>
  757.  <link>https://www.zerohedge.com/energy/pipelineistan-war-syria-announces-major-natural-gas-deal-turkey</link>
  758.  <description>&lt;span property="schema:name" class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden"&gt;Pipelineistan War: Syria Announces Major Natural Gas Deal With Turkey&lt;/span&gt;
  759.  
  760.            &lt;div property="schema:text" class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://thecradle.co/articles/syria-announces-major-natural-gas-deal-with-turkiye"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Via The Cradle&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  761.  
  762. &lt;p&gt;Syria's interim Energy Minister, Mohammad al-Bashir, announced Friday that Damascus and Ankara have reached a deal for Turkey to deliver 6 million cubic meters (mcm) of natural gas per day to Syria within the next three months.&lt;/p&gt;
  763.  
  764. &lt;p&gt;"I agreed with my Turkish counterpart Alparslan Bayraktar on supplying Syria with six million cubic meters of natural gas a day through the Kilis-Aleppo pipeline," Bashir told &lt;a href="https://sana.sy/?p=2216619"&gt;SANA&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
  765. &lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/natgassyria.jpg?itok=aBlAgG0P" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/natgassyria.jpg?itok=aBlAgG0P"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;figure role="group" class="caption caption-img inline-images image-style-inline-images"&gt;&lt;img alt="" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="cfff4cc8-c976-445d-a5bf-e4666230c1b8" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="281" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/natgassyria.jpg?itok=aBlAgG0P" typeof="foaf:Image" width="500" /&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;&lt;em&gt;Getty Images&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
  766.  
  767. &lt;p&gt;His statement came hours after Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister &lt;a href="https://www.turkishminute.com/2025/05/09/turkey-to-supply-natural-gas-to-syria-energy-minister/"&gt;Alparslan Bayraktar&lt;/a&gt; told CNN Turk late Thursday that Ankara &lt;strong&gt;"will provide natural gas to Syria from Kilis within the next three months."&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  768.  
  769. &lt;p&gt;"We have made rapid progress in Syria because our natural gas line has already extended to Kilis, near the Syrian border," the Turkish official said. &lt;strong&gt;"We will effectively be supplying fuel to the gas power plants there."&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  770.  
  771. &lt;p&gt;Bayraktar also noted that initiatives to deliver electricity directly to Syria alongside natural gas are underway. The Turkish minister stated Ankara is supplying about 200 megawatts to Aleppo and has finalized the required permitting for further exports.&lt;/p&gt;
  772.  
  773. &lt;p&gt;"We plan to increase this by an additional 500 megawatts, aiming to reach between 700 and 800 megawatts of electricity exports in the coming months," he explained.&lt;/p&gt;
  774.  
  775. &lt;p&gt;Bayraktar made the announcement hours after the Syrian Finance Ministry &lt;a href="https://thecradle.co/articles/qatar-gets-us-greenlight-to-bankroll-public-sector-salaries-in-syria"&gt;revealed&lt;/a&gt; that Qatar will provide $29 million per month for three months, with the possibility of extension, to help cover about one-fifth of public sector salaries.&lt;/p&gt;
  776.  
  777. &lt;p&gt;Late last month, &lt;strong&gt;Saudi Arabia and Qatar announced that they would settle Syria’s $15 million debt to the World Bank&lt;/strong&gt;, &lt;strong&gt;allowing the international lender to resume its activities in the country after a hiatus of more than 14 years&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
  778.  
  779. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Ankara, Doha, and Riyadh were key players in the 13-year war in Syria, alongside US intelligence agencies&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
  780.  
  781. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/pipelinesyria.jpg?itok=52PPRTZm" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/pipelinesyria.jpg?itok=52PPRTZm"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="4631e035-6807-4111-ac3f-73373ab6d098" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="472" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/pipelinesyria.jpg?itok=52PPRTZm" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  782.  
  783. &lt;p&gt;The allied nations funded and protected extremist armed groups that, last December, finally toppled the government of Bashar al-Assad.&lt;/p&gt;
  784.  
  785. &lt;p&gt;Syrian Leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (al-Qaeda name: Abu Mohammad al-Jolani), is still on the US terrorism list, but was hosted by President Macron of France and given the red carpet treatment this week.&lt;/p&gt;
  786. &lt;/div&gt;
  787.      &lt;span rel="schema:author" class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"&gt;&lt;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="" class="username" xml:lang=""&gt;Tyler Durden&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
  788. &lt;span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-05-11T11:00:00+00:00" class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"&gt;Sun, 05/11/2025 - 07:00&lt;/span&gt;
  789. </description>
  790.  <pubDate>Sun, 11 May 2025 11:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
  791.    <dc:creator>Tyler Durden</dc:creator>
  792.    <guid isPermaLink="false">1029338 at https://www.zerohedge.com</guid>
  793.    </item>
  794. <item>
  795.  <title>Senators Cotton &amp; Graham Work To Sabotage Chances Of Iran Deal</title>
  796.  <link>https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/senators-cotton-graham-work-sabotage-chances-iran-deal</link>
  797.  <description>&lt;span property="schema:name" class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden"&gt;Senators Cotton &amp; Graham Work To Sabotage Chances Of Iran Deal&lt;/span&gt;
  798.  
  799.            &lt;div property="schema:text" class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://news.antiwar.com/2025/05/08/senators-cotton-and-graham-work-to-sabotage-chances-of-iran-deal/"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Authored by Dave DeCamp via AntiWar.com&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  800.  
  801. &lt;p&gt;Senators Tom Cotton (R-AR) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC), two of the most hawkish members of Congress, &lt;a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/gop-senators-congress-should-vote-trumps-potential-iran-nuclear-deal"&gt;are working together&lt;/a&gt; to sabotage the Trump administration’s chances of reaching a deal with Iran.&lt;/p&gt;
  802.  
  803. &lt;p&gt;On Thursday, the senators &lt;strong&gt;held a press conference outlining a resolution they’re introducing that demands that any deal with Iran must include the total dismantlement of Tehran’s nuclear enrichment program&lt;/strong&gt;, an idea that Iranian officials &lt;a href="https://archive.vn/cZtvh"&gt;have made clear is a non-starter.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  804.  
  805. &lt;p&gt;"To the Iranian regime: you claim all you want is a peaceful nuclear power program. You can have it, but you cannot enrich and you must dismantle," &lt;a href="https://jewishinsider.com/2025/05/graham-cotton-warn-iran-nuclear-deal-without-complete-dismantlement-wont-pass-senate/?smid=tw-share"&gt;Graham said&lt;/a&gt;. "And you must dismantle now."&lt;/p&gt;
  806.  
  807. &lt;p&gt;Graham and Cotton said that any deal must require ratification from the Senate and must also impose limits on Iran’s ballistic missile program and support for its allies in the region, &lt;strong&gt;conditions that are also a non-starter for Tehran&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
  808. &lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/Cotton-Graham.jpg?itok=yn3NRs21" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/Cotton-Graham.jpg?itok=yn3NRs21"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;figure role="group" class="caption caption-img inline-images image-style-inline-images"&gt;&lt;img alt="" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="e49011e9-96e9-4e2c-9eb3-1bce6957fe8f" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="333" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/Cotton-Graham.jpg?itok=yn3NRs21" typeof="foaf:Image" width="500" /&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;&lt;em&gt;Graham and Cotton at a press conference on May 8, 2025 (photo via Graham’s office)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
  809.  
  810. &lt;p&gt;"A treaty with Iran in this space is only possible if you get 67 votes," Graham said. "You’re not going to get 67 votes for a treaty regarding their nuclear program unless they deal with the missile program and their terrorism activity. So is it possible? Yes, if Iran changes."&lt;/p&gt;
  811.  
  812. &lt;p&gt;The senators also &lt;strong&gt;repeated President Trump’s threat that if there is no deal&lt;/strong&gt;, &lt;strong&gt;the US will attack Iran&lt;/strong&gt;."&lt;/p&gt;
  813.  
  814. &lt;p&gt;"Iran can either have a nuclear program that’s lying in ruins, smoking, destroyed, and dismantled, or it can have a peaceful civilian nuclear power program with no centrifuges, no enriching, no re-processing, and no pathway to a nuclear weapon," he said.&lt;/p&gt;
  815.  
  816. &lt;p&gt;Trump has been threatening to bomb Iran over its nuclear program even though &lt;a href="https://news.antiwar.com/2025/03/25/us-intelligence-says-iran-is-not-building-a-nuclear-weapon/"&gt;his intelligence agencies recently reaffirmed &lt;/a&gt;that there’s no evidence Tehran is building a bomb or that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has reversed his ban on the development of nuclear weapons.&lt;/p&gt;
  817.  
  818. &lt;p&gt;Iran is currently enriching some uranium at 20% and 60%, which is still lower than the 90% needed for weapons-grade. Tehran has made clear that it’s willing to bring enrichment levels back down to 3.67%, the limit imposed by the JCPOA.&lt;/p&gt;
  819. &lt;/div&gt;
  820.      &lt;span rel="schema:author" class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"&gt;&lt;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="" class="username" xml:lang=""&gt;Tyler Durden&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
  821. &lt;span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-05-11T03:20:00+00:00" class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"&gt;Sat, 05/10/2025 - 23:20&lt;/span&gt;
  822. </description>
  823.  <pubDate>Sun, 11 May 2025 03:20:00 +0000</pubDate>
  824.    <dc:creator>Tyler Durden</dc:creator>
  825.    <guid isPermaLink="false">1029369 at https://www.zerohedge.com</guid>
  826.    </item>
  827. <item>
  828.  <title>Number Of Jailed Journalists Remains High</title>
  829.  <link>https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/number-jailed-journalists-remains-high</link>
  830.  <description>&lt;span property="schema:name" class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden"&gt;Number Of Jailed Journalists Remains High&lt;/span&gt;
  831.  
  832.            &lt;div property="schema:text" class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;361 journalists were imprisoned as a result of their work&lt;/strong&gt; as of December 1, 2024, according to &lt;a href="https://cpj.org/data/imprisoned/2023/?status=Imprisoned&amp;start_year=2024&amp;end_year=2024&amp;group_by=location"&gt;data&lt;/a&gt; from the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). &lt;/p&gt;
  833.  
  834. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/jailed-20180725.jpg?itok=otNmgGum" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/jailed-20180725.jpg?itok=otNmgGum"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="e00e3391-76af-4b4f-8751-1255c644fde4" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="281" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/jailed-20180725.jpg?itok=otNmgGum" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  835.  
  836. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.statista.com/chart/16414/jailed-journalists-timeline/"&gt;Statista's Anna Fleck points &lt;/a&gt;out that &lt;strong&gt;this number was the second highest on record&lt;/strong&gt; since the CPJ started collecting this data in 1992, following only after 2022 when at least 369 journalists were incarcerated. &lt;/p&gt;
  837.  
  838. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.statista.com/chart/16414/jailed-journalists-timeline/" title="Infographic: Number of Jailed Journalists Remains High | Statista"&gt;&lt;img alt="Infographic: Number of Jailed Journalists Remains High | Statista" height="499" src="https://cdn.statcdn.com/Infographic/images/normal/16414.jpeg" style="max-width: 960px;" width="499" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;
  839.  
  840. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;You will find more infographics at &lt;a href="https://www.statista.com/chartoftheday/"&gt;Statista&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  841.  
  842. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;These figures do not include those who were jailed and released throughout the year.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  843.  
  844. &lt;p&gt;At the end of 2024, &lt;strong&gt;China had the largest number of journalists held behind bars&lt;/strong&gt; (50). &lt;/p&gt;
  845.  
  846. &lt;p&gt;This is likely a low estimate, according to a CPJ &lt;a href="https://cpj.org/special-reports/in-record-year-china-israel-and-myanmar-are-worlds-leading-jailers-of-journalists/"&gt;report&lt;/a&gt;, since censorship makes it difficult to determine the exact number of imprisoned journalists. &lt;/p&gt;
  847.  
  848. &lt;p&gt;The next top jailers of journalists were Israel (43), Myanmar (35), Belarus (31) and Russia (30).&lt;/p&gt;
  849.  
  850. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Together, these five countries accounted for more than half of the global total of imprisoned journalists (53 percent), as of the day of the census.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  851. &lt;/div&gt;
  852.      &lt;span rel="schema:author" class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"&gt;&lt;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="" class="username" xml:lang=""&gt;Tyler Durden&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
  853. &lt;span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-05-11T02:45:00+00:00" class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"&gt;Sat, 05/10/2025 - 22:45&lt;/span&gt;
  854. </description>
  855.  <pubDate>Sun, 11 May 2025 02:45:00 +0000</pubDate>
  856.    <dc:creator>Tyler Durden</dc:creator>
  857.    <guid isPermaLink="false">1029384 at https://www.zerohedge.com</guid>
  858.    </item>
  859. <item>
  860.  <title>A Matter Of Faith</title>
  861.  <link>https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/matter-faith-0</link>
  862.  <description>&lt;span property="schema:name" class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden"&gt;A Matter Of Faith&lt;/span&gt;
  863.  
  864.            &lt;div property="schema:text" class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;For many people around the world, religion plays a prominent role in their everyday lives, while others embrace secular ideas&lt;/strong&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;
  865.  
  866. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.statista.com/chart/27033/share-religious-people-by-country/"&gt;As Statista's Felix Richter reports&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="https://www.statista.com/global-consumer-survey/surveys"&gt;according to a Statista Consumer Insights survey, &lt;/a&gt;carried out between January 2024 and March 2025, many of the &lt;strong&gt;most religious countries in the world can be found in Africa and the Middle East. &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  867.  
  868. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.statista.com/chart/27033/share-religious-people-by-country/" title="Infographic: A Matter of Faith | Statista"&gt;&lt;img alt="Infographic: A Matter of Faith | Statista" height="500" src="https://cdn.statcdn.com/Infographic/images/normal/27033.jpeg" style="max-width: 960px;" width="500" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;
  869.  
  870. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;You will find more infographics at &lt;a href="https://www.statista.com/chartoftheday/"&gt;Statista&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  871.  
  872. &lt;p&gt;Among the countries included in the survey, Pakistan, Egypt and Nigeria scored highest with 99 percent of all adults in the surveyed age group professing to a religion.&lt;/p&gt;
  873.  
  874. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The most secular country in the survey was China,&lt;/strong&gt; with only 17 percent of the adult population saying that they followed a religion. &lt;/p&gt;
  875.  
  876. &lt;p&gt;The number is not surprising given the fact that religious faith was marginalized under Communism in the country. &lt;/p&gt;
  877.  
  878. &lt;p&gt;Other relatively secular places in Asia included Vietnam, Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong.&lt;/p&gt;
  879.  
  880. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.statista.com/topics/3977/religion-in-europe/"&gt;In Europe,&lt;/a&gt; Czechia (30 percent follow a religion) is the country with the fewest people who declare themselves believers – a fact that is in part tied to the country’s communist past, while &lt;a href="https://praguemorning.cz/why-are-czechs-not-religious/"&gt;tensions with and rejection of the Catholic Church started much earlier in the country&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  881.  
  882. &lt;p&gt;Further East in Europe, religion has not been stifled as much despite a socialist past – for example in Romania, Serbia or Lithuania. &lt;/p&gt;
  883.  
  884. &lt;p&gt;Poland, the home of famous pope John Paul II, also showed more religious tendencies than many of its Western European neighbors.&lt;/p&gt;
  885.  
  886. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;In the West of the continent, Ireland was the most religious, while in Southern Europe, religion was most widespread in Greece, Italy and Portugal.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  887.  
  888. &lt;p&gt;Peru and Brazil were the only countries surveyed on the American continent with at least 80 percent saying they followed a religion. &lt;/p&gt;
  889.  
  890. &lt;p&gt;Most other countries here – with the exception of Canada – did nevertheless score consistently high on religious faith with little difference between North and South.&lt;/p&gt;
  891. &lt;/div&gt;
  892.      &lt;span rel="schema:author" class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"&gt;&lt;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="" class="username" xml:lang=""&gt;Tyler Durden&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
  893. &lt;span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-05-11T01:35:00+00:00" class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"&gt;Sat, 05/10/2025 - 21:35&lt;/span&gt;
  894. </description>
  895.  <pubDate>Sun, 11 May 2025 01:35:00 +0000</pubDate>
  896.    <dc:creator>Tyler Durden</dc:creator>
  897.    <guid isPermaLink="false">1029381 at https://www.zerohedge.com</guid>
  898.    </item>
  899. <item>
  900.  <title>Is There More To The Fetterman Story?</title>
  901.  <link>https://www.zerohedge.com/political/there-more-fetterman-story</link>
  902.  <description>&lt;span property="schema:name" class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden"&gt;Is There More To The Fetterman Story?&lt;/span&gt;
  903.  
  904.            &lt;div property="schema:text" class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;a href="https://realclearwire.com/articles/2025/05/09/is_there_more_to_the_fetterman_story_1109230.html"&gt;Authored by Christopher Nicholas via RealClearPennsylvania&lt;/a&gt;,&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  905.  
  906. &lt;p&gt;So &lt;a href="https://substack.com/redirect/760929c1-ed0d-4f6f-a70c-d5fa9605d454?j=eyJ1IjoiM3JuNGdkIn0.1o6Mji3xSehMmYa3Z3n6MFtRDg3Ck3wXWIAtO8iwKXA"&gt;the big&lt;/a&gt; recent exposé on Sen. John Fetterman in New York Magazine has many Republicans trying to excuse his erratic behavior by claiming his Senate staff “dimed” him out because of his evolution into a hard-core supporter of Israel.&lt;/p&gt;
  907.  
  908. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/686246_jpg_92.jpg?itok=waS8Xqma" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/686246_jpg_92.jpg?itok=waS8Xqma"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="5cb3bdff-a3a1-4d5a-a07b-cd897bd38522" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="344" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/686246_jpg_92.jpg?itok=waS8Xqma" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  909.  
  910. &lt;p&gt;That alone does not come close to passing the smell test.&lt;/p&gt;
  911.  
  912. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;It’s clear Fetterman’s staff is at war with their boss,&lt;/strong&gt; and it’s impossible for a senator to serve our large and diverse state with that distraction at hand. Perhaps it was their way of pushing the senator to return into some form of treatment?&lt;/p&gt;
  913.  
  914. &lt;p&gt;Either way, having our senior U.S. Senator’s office hamstrung like this is not a good thing for Pennsylvania.&lt;/p&gt;
  915.  
  916. &lt;h2&gt;But first, some background.&lt;/h2&gt;
  917.  
  918. &lt;p&gt;The new phrase we’re all learning now, since we’re living in it, is the “&lt;a href="https://substack.com/redirect/7ea00d11-0bf4-4f9d-a9b4-5c537a47de3c?j=eyJ1IjoiM3JuNGdkIn0.1o6Mji3xSehMmYa3Z3n6MFtRDg3Ck3wXWIAtO8iwKXA"&gt;attention economy&lt;/a&gt;.” As the Berkeley Economic Review noted: “The term ‘attention economy’ was coined by psychologist, economist, and Nobel Laureate Herbert A. Simon, who &lt;a href="https://substack.com/redirect/32dcb337-5bdb-4456-93b5-39fa109d60b6?j=eyJ1IjoiM3JuNGdkIn0.1o6Mji3xSehMmYa3Z3n6MFtRDg3Ck3wXWIAtO8iwKXA"&gt;posited&lt;/a&gt; that attention was the ‘bottleneck of human thought’ that limits both what we can perceive in stimulating environments and what we can do. &lt;strong&gt;Our attention has always been limited, valuable, and scarce &lt;/strong&gt;… But what distinguishes the present day is that technological advances have made an overwhelming amount of information available, strategically aimed at capturing our attention. As for the general public, it has never been easier to garner such personal levels of attention though means like social media.”&lt;/p&gt;
  919.  
  920. &lt;p&gt;President Trump excels at dominating the country’s political attention economy. Whether that’s good for him and/or the country remains an open question – even as we recently passed the 100-day mark of his second term.&lt;/p&gt;
  921.  
  922. &lt;p&gt;Is there any Democrat around today who even comes close to Trump’s dominance in the attention economy? To me, there’s just one: &lt;strong&gt;John Fetterman. U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders and U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are a distant second.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  923.  
  924. &lt;p&gt;Fetterman is a walking “look at me” sign – given the contrast between his appearance and his diction and his education pedigree. Plus, he lives poor but has a multi-million trust fund at his disposal.&lt;/p&gt;
  925.  
  926. &lt;p&gt;Who had access to world class health care but ignored his doctors for five years and then lied to his boss, then Gov. Tom Wolf, about it.&lt;/p&gt;
  927.  
  928. &lt;p&gt;&lt;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/"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="b078d785-78f1-4ac1-8e9b-b256027d4e69" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="129" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/beef%20initiative_2.JPG?itok=xygdyhxL" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  929.  
  930. &lt;p&gt;Who later suffered a bad stroke and then lied to the state about it and his recovery as he campaigned for higher office while, of course, serving as the state’s lieutenant governor.&lt;/p&gt;
  931.  
  932. &lt;p&gt;A true renaissance Yinzer … who of course, grew up in south-central Pennsylvania’s York.&lt;/p&gt;
  933.  
  934. &lt;p&gt;So, &lt;strong&gt;as he recently played footsie for a time with Trump and his administration – it captivated the political media … and our attention.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  935.  
  936. &lt;p&gt;In the end, he met with Trump in Florida before the swearing in, met with many of his cabinet designees, and &lt;a href="https://substack.com/redirect/2206eaed-4ccd-4a8c-a65a-de2a6b886dd6?j=eyJ1IjoiM3JuNGdkIn0.1o6Mji3xSehMmYa3Z3n6MFtRDg3Ck3wXWIAtO8iwKXA"&gt;voted for about half of them&lt;/a&gt;, including Attorney General Pam Bondi and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, according to a &lt;a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/senate-vote-trump-cabinet-picks-top-nominees/"&gt;CBS News round up&lt;/a&gt; on Trump Cabinet confirmation votes.&lt;/p&gt;
  937.  
  938. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Against this backdrop, Fetterman continued to excel at his true love – social media shit-posting.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  939.  
  940. &lt;p&gt;He had indeed angered mainstream progressive Democrats over his dalliance with Trump and increasingly, his support for Israel – and opposition to PLO/Hamas – in which he sounded more like a Republican.&lt;/p&gt;
  941.  
  942. &lt;p&gt;Many in-state Democrats are counting the days until someone, anyone, takes him down in the 2028 primary, still three-plus years away. Whether that could happen is another open question, as is: who would Republicans rather try to defeat in ‘28 – Fetterman or a Democrat who had just defeated him in their primary?&lt;/p&gt;
  943.  
  944. &lt;p&gt;Against this backdrop came that New York magazine story, which paints a picture of an isolated senator: “&lt;strong&gt;Fetterman’s staffers, his truest believers, now question his fitness to be a senator. They worry he may present a danger to the Democratic Party and maybe even to himself&lt;/strong&gt;.”&lt;/p&gt;
  945.  
  946. &lt;p&gt;Of course, this will raise all sorts of alarm bells, especially given the senator’s previous and ongoing mental and physical health struggles.&lt;/p&gt;
  947.  
  948. &lt;p&gt;After digesting the story, many Pennsylvania Democrats went “a-ha!,” agreed with their findings, and said or thought the senator needed some mental health help. Meanwhile, many Republicans, both in and out of the state, dismissed the article as just a hit piece, brought on by his pro-Israel shift.&lt;/p&gt;
  949.  
  950. &lt;p&gt;They took it as an opportunity to blast the senator’s staff for turning on him, and decided there was no there there, and it was just all sour grapes because of his vocal support for Israel.&lt;/p&gt;
  951.  
  952. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Is real life ever that neat?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  953.  
  954. &lt;p&gt;It’s difficult to get through New York magazine’s entire report and think it’s just about disgruntled staffers acting out.&lt;/p&gt;
  955.  
  956. &lt;p&gt;And where is Fetterman’s wife, who has a new book coming out in early July titled: Radical Tenderness – The Value of Vulnerability in an Often Unkind World.&lt;/p&gt;
  957.  
  958. &lt;p&gt;In a normal “playing defense” situation like this, the staff would bring out the spouse to vouch for the elected. We’ve seen it a million times.&lt;/p&gt;
  959.  
  960. &lt;p&gt;A complicating factor: there are several vignettes in the report about the Fettermans having arguments – in-person and on the phone – relating to the situation in Israel and Gaza.&lt;/p&gt;
  961.  
  962. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;There had been no response from Team Fetterman on this until late Tuesday afternoon when the senator himself echoed the hit piece narrative.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  963.  
  964. &lt;p&gt;Then over the weekend &lt;a href="https://substack.com/redirect/4bd6639b-b681-44a5-8b06-5e0e83686043?j=eyJ1IjoiM3JuNGdkIn0.1o6Mji3xSehMmYa3Z3n6MFtRDg3Ck3wXWIAtO8iwKXA"&gt;a story – with video – dropped&lt;/a&gt; about Fetterman apparently refusing to fasten his seat belt on a flight to Pittsburgh back in February. Reports &lt;a href="https://apnews.com/article/john-fetterman-trump-democrats-senate-pennsylvania-8129e206ed9479ad8534eac3fd128abe"&gt;out this week&lt;/a&gt; note Fetterman's bizarre actions and remarks at a meeting with local labor leaders.&lt;/p&gt;
  965.  
  966. &lt;p&gt;So, there’s something going on here, and it’s not just about an issue or position that Fetterman now espouses. Let’s hope Fetterman gets the help he needs – especially since it clearly helped him earlier.&lt;/p&gt;
  967.  
  968. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Christopher Nicholas is a veteran GOP political consultant, president of Eagle Consulting Group, and author of the PA Political Digest newsletter.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  969. &lt;/div&gt;
  970.      &lt;span rel="schema:author" class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"&gt;&lt;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="" class="username" xml:lang=""&gt;Tyler Durden&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
  971. &lt;span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-05-11T01:00:00+00:00" class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"&gt;Sat, 05/10/2025 - 21:00&lt;/span&gt;
  972. </description>
  973.  <pubDate>Sun, 11 May 2025 01:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
  974.    <dc:creator>Tyler Durden</dc:creator>
  975.    <guid isPermaLink="false">1029340 at https://www.zerohedge.com</guid>
  976.    </item>
  977. <item>
  978.  <title>A Brief Visual History Of US Trade Disputes</title>
  979.  <link>https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/brief-visual-history-us-trade-disputes</link>
  980.  <description>&lt;span property="schema:name" class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden"&gt;A Brief Visual History Of US Trade Disputes&lt;/span&gt;
  981.  
  982.            &lt;div property="schema:text" class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"&gt;&lt;p&gt;As global policy uncertainty continues to dominate the headlines, &lt;strong&gt;maintaining a balanced perspective is crucial.&lt;/strong&gt; For investors, understanding the broader trade landscape - including where America’s largest trade deficits and surpluses lie - can help identify both emerging risks and overlooked opportunities.&lt;/p&gt;
  983.  
  984. &lt;p&gt;In partnership with &lt;a href="https://www.newyorklifeinvestments.com/?utm_source=digital&amp;utm_medium=visualcapitalist&amp;utm_campaign=websitetraffic&amp;utm_content=chartinguspartners"&gt;New York Life Investments&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="https://www.visualcapitalist.com/sp/nyl02-charting-u-s-trade-relationships/"&gt;Visual Capitalist's Julia Wendling breaks down &lt;/a&gt;the &lt;strong&gt;key players in America’s trade ecosystem&lt;/strong&gt; - offering a clearer view of the relationships shaping U.S. economic dynamics.&lt;/p&gt;
  985.  
  986. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/2025-05-10_12-01-09.jpg?itok=WoZ3nTYX" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/2025-05-10_12-01-09.jpg?itok=WoZ3nTYX"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="a48e8fdd-5db0-4f94-88b6-a118f425d54a" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="2128" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/2025-05-10_12-01-09.jpg?itok=WoZ3nTYX" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  987.  
  988. &lt;h2&gt;Who Are America’s Primary Trade Partners?&lt;/h2&gt;
  989.  
  990. &lt;p&gt;A country’s &lt;a href="https://www.visualcapitalist.com/ranked-top-u-s-trade-partners-by-import-value/"&gt;largest trading partners&lt;/a&gt; play a pivotal role in shaping its economic stability, currency strength, and market potential—all of which influence investor sentiment.&lt;/p&gt;
  991.  
  992. &lt;p&gt;For the U.S., trade is concentrated among three key partners: Canada, Mexico, and China. Canada and Mexico, closely tied through the USMCA trade agreement, account for &lt;strong&gt;16.9%&lt;/strong&gt; and &lt;strong&gt;16.2%&lt;/strong&gt; of total trade, respectively. China follows at &lt;strong&gt;7.0%&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
  993.  
  994. &lt;table class="tablepress tablepress-id-5603" id="tablepress-5603"&gt;&lt;thead&gt;&lt;tr class="row-1"&gt;&lt;th class="column-1"&gt;Rank&lt;/th&gt;
  995. &lt;th class="column-2"&gt;Country&lt;/th&gt;
  996. &lt;th class="column-3"&gt;Percent of Total Trade&lt;/th&gt;
  997. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/thead&gt;&lt;tbody class="row-striping row-hover"&gt;&lt;tr class="row-2"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;1&lt;/td&gt;
  998. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;🇨🇦 Canada&lt;/td&gt;
  999. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;16.9%&lt;/td&gt;
  1000. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-3"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;2&lt;/td&gt;
  1001. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;🇲🇽 Mexico&lt;/td&gt;
  1002. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;16.2%&lt;/td&gt;
  1003. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-4"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;3&lt;/td&gt;
  1004. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;🇨🇳 China&lt;/td&gt;
  1005. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;7.0%&lt;/td&gt;
  1006. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-5"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;4&lt;/td&gt;
  1007. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;🇳🇱 Netherlands&lt;/td&gt;
  1008. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;4.3%&lt;/td&gt;
  1009. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-6"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;5&lt;/td&gt;
  1010. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;🇬🇧 United Kingdom&lt;/td&gt;
  1011. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;3.9%&lt;/td&gt;
  1012. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-7"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;6&lt;/td&gt;
  1013. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;🇯🇵 Japan&lt;/td&gt;
  1014. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;3.9%&lt;/td&gt;
  1015. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-8"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;7&lt;/td&gt;
  1016. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;🇩🇪 Germany&lt;/td&gt;
  1017. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;3.7%&lt;/td&gt;
  1018. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-9"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;8&lt;/td&gt;
  1019. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;🇰🇷 South Korea&lt;/td&gt;
  1020. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;3.2%&lt;/td&gt;
  1021. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-10"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;9&lt;/td&gt;
  1022. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;🇧🇷 Brazil&lt;/td&gt;
  1023. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;2.4%&lt;/td&gt;
  1024. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-11"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;10&lt;/td&gt;
  1025. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;🇸🇬 Singapore&lt;/td&gt;
  1026. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;2.2%&lt;/td&gt;
  1027. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-12"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;11&lt;/td&gt;
  1028. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;🇫🇷 France&lt;/td&gt;
  1029. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;2.1%&lt;/td&gt;
  1030. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-13"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;12&lt;/td&gt;
  1031. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;🇹🇼 Taiwan&lt;/td&gt;
  1032. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;2.1%&lt;/td&gt;
  1033. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-14"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;13&lt;/td&gt;
  1034. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;🇮🇳 India&lt;/td&gt;
  1035. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;2.0%&lt;/td&gt;
  1036. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-15"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;14&lt;/td&gt;
  1037. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;🇦🇺 Australia&lt;/td&gt;
  1038. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;1.7%&lt;/td&gt;
  1039. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-16"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;15&lt;/td&gt;
  1040. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;🇧🇪 Belgium&lt;/td&gt;
  1041. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;1.7%&lt;/td&gt;
  1042. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-17"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt; &lt;/td&gt;
  1043. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;Other&lt;/td&gt;
  1044. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;26.9%&lt;/td&gt;
  1045. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;p&gt;The remainder of the top 15 trading partners spans Europe and Asia.&lt;/p&gt;
  1046.  
  1047. &lt;h2&gt;America’s Largest Trade Deficits and Surpluses&lt;/h2&gt;
  1048.  
  1049. &lt;p&gt;Trade imbalances are a frequent flashpoint in economic and political discussions. So, where do the biggest gaps lie?&lt;/p&gt;
  1050.  
  1051. &lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href="https://www.bea.gov/news/2025/us-international-trade-goods-and-services-february-2025"&gt;largest trade deficits&lt;/a&gt; are with China, Mexico, and Vietnam. Notably, the U.S. deficit with China alone (&lt;strong&gt;$295 billion&lt;/strong&gt;) nearly equals its combined deficits with Mexico and Vietnam (&lt;strong&gt;$296 billion&lt;/strong&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;
  1052.  
  1053. &lt;table class="tablepress tablepress-id-5604" id="tablepress-5604"&gt;&lt;thead&gt;&lt;tr class="row-1"&gt;&lt;th class="column-1"&gt;Rank&lt;/th&gt;
  1054. &lt;th class="column-2"&gt;Country&lt;/th&gt;
  1055. &lt;th class="column-3"&gt;Trade Deficits ($ billions)&lt;/th&gt;
  1056. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/thead&gt;&lt;tbody class="row-striping row-hover"&gt;&lt;tr class="row-2"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;1&lt;/td&gt;
  1057. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;🇨🇳 China&lt;/td&gt;
  1058. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;-295.4&lt;/td&gt;
  1059. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-3"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;2&lt;/td&gt;
  1060. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;🇲🇽 Mexico&lt;/td&gt;
  1061. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;-171.8&lt;/td&gt;
  1062. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-4"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;3&lt;/td&gt;
  1063. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;🇻🇳 Vietnam&lt;/td&gt;
  1064. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;-123..5&lt;/td&gt;
  1065. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-5"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;4&lt;/td&gt;
  1066. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;🇮🇪 Ireland&lt;/td&gt;
  1067. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;-86.7&lt;/td&gt;
  1068. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-6"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;5&lt;/td&gt;
  1069. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;🇩🇪 Germany&lt;/td&gt;
  1070. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;-84.8&lt;/td&gt;
  1071. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-7"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;6&lt;/td&gt;
  1072. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;🇹🇼 Taiwan&lt;/td&gt;
  1073. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;-73.9&lt;/td&gt;
  1074. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-8"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;7&lt;/td&gt;
  1075. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;🇯🇵 Japan&lt;/td&gt;
  1076. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;-68.5&lt;/td&gt;
  1077. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-9"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;8&lt;/td&gt;
  1078. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;🇰🇷 South Korea&lt;/td&gt;
  1079. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;-66.0&lt;/td&gt;
  1080. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-10"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;9&lt;/td&gt;
  1081. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;🇨🇦 Canada&lt;/td&gt;
  1082. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;-63.3&lt;/td&gt;
  1083. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-11"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;10&lt;/td&gt;
  1084. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;🇮🇳 India&lt;/td&gt;
  1085. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;-45.7&lt;/td&gt;
  1086. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;p&gt;On the other side of the ledger, the U.S. runs trade surpluses with countries such as the Netherlands (&lt;strong&gt;$55.5 billion&lt;/strong&gt;), Hong Kong (&lt;strong&gt;$21.9 billion&lt;/strong&gt;), and Australia (&lt;strong&gt;$17.9 billion&lt;/strong&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;
  1087.  
  1088. &lt;table class="tablepress tablepress-id-5607" id="tablepress-5607"&gt;&lt;thead&gt;&lt;tr class="row-1"&gt;&lt;th class="column-1"&gt;Rank&lt;/th&gt;
  1089. &lt;th class="column-2"&gt;Country&lt;/th&gt;
  1090. &lt;th class="column-3"&gt;Trade Surpluses ($ billions)&lt;/th&gt;
  1091. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/thead&gt;&lt;tbody class="row-striping row-hover"&gt;&lt;tr class="row-2"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;1&lt;/td&gt;
  1092. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;🇳🇱 Netherlands&lt;/td&gt;
  1093. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;55.5&lt;/td&gt;
  1094. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-3"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;2&lt;/td&gt;
  1095. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;🇭🇰 Hong Kong&lt;/td&gt;
  1096. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;21.9&lt;/td&gt;
  1097. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-4"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;3&lt;/td&gt;
  1098. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;🇦🇺 Australia&lt;/td&gt;
  1099. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;17.9&lt;/td&gt;
  1100. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-5"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;4&lt;/td&gt;
  1101. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;🇬🇧 United Kingdom&lt;/td&gt;
  1102. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;11.9&lt;/td&gt;
  1103. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-6"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;5&lt;/td&gt;
  1104. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;🇧🇷 Brazil&lt;/td&gt;
  1105. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;7.4&lt;/td&gt;
  1106. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-7"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;6&lt;/td&gt;
  1107. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;🇧🇪 Belgium&lt;/td&gt;
  1108. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;6.3&lt;/td&gt;
  1109. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-8"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;7&lt;/td&gt;
  1110. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;🇸🇬 Singapore&lt;/td&gt;
  1111. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;2.8&lt;/td&gt;
  1112. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-9"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;8&lt;/td&gt;
  1113. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia&lt;/td&gt;
  1114. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;0.4&lt;/td&gt;
  1115. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;p&gt;There is also a sizable surplus with South and Central America, totaling &lt;strong&gt;$47.3 billion&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
  1116.  
  1117. &lt;h2&gt;A Brief History of U.S. Trade Disputes&lt;/h2&gt;
  1118.  
  1119. &lt;p&gt;The U.S. has a long tradition of using tariffs and other protective measures to support domestic industries—often targeting its top trading partners.&lt;/p&gt;
  1120.  
  1121. &lt;p&gt;Before the latest round of Trump-era tariffs, the U.S. and Canada clashed in several notable disputes, including the Smoot-Hawley Tariffs (1930), the Lumber War (1982), and the first wave of Trump tariffs in 2018.&lt;/p&gt;
  1122.  
  1123. &lt;h2&gt;Insights Amid Uncertainty&lt;/h2&gt;
  1124.  
  1125. &lt;p&gt;In times of heightened uncertainty, clear insights are more valuable than ever. By unpacking the U.S.’s trade relationships and historical context, investors can gain a deeper understanding of potential market impacts—and spot opportunities that may otherwise go unnoticed.&lt;/p&gt;
  1126. &lt;/div&gt;
  1127.      &lt;span rel="schema:author" class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"&gt;&lt;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="" class="username" xml:lang=""&gt;Tyler Durden&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
  1128. &lt;span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-05-11T00:25:00+00:00" class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"&gt;Sat, 05/10/2025 - 20:25&lt;/span&gt;
  1129. </description>
  1130.  <pubDate>Sun, 11 May 2025 00:25:00 +0000</pubDate>
  1131.    <dc:creator>Tyler Durden</dc:creator>
  1132.    <guid isPermaLink="false">1029383 at https://www.zerohedge.com</guid>
  1133.    </item>
  1134. <item>
  1135.  <title>India And Pakistan Agree To US-Mediated "Full &amp; Immediate Ceasefire"</title>
  1136.  <link>https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/trump-says-india-and-pakistan-agreed-full-immediate-ceasefire</link>
  1137.  <description>&lt;span property="schema:name" class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden"&gt;India And Pakistan Agree To US-Mediated "Full &amp; Immediate Ceasefire"&lt;/span&gt;
  1138.  
  1139.            &lt;div property="schema:text" class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"&gt;&lt;p&gt;India and Pakistan, both nuclear-armed nations, appeared to be &lt;a href="https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/last-hours-india-pakistan-fighting-grows-most-expansive-decades"&gt;spiraling toward broader&lt;/a&gt; conflict on Saturday, setting the stage for another day of scary headlines that could trigger World War III. But just moments ago, President Trump announced on &lt;a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114483405683675564"&gt;Truth Social&lt;/a&gt; that India and Pakistan have "&lt;strong&gt;agreed to a FULL AND IMMEDIATE CEASEFIRE&lt;/strong&gt;." &lt;/p&gt;
  1140.  
  1141. &lt;p&gt;"&lt;strong&gt;After a long night of talks mediated by the United States, I am pleased to announce that India and Pakistan have agreed to a FULL AND IMMEDIATE CEASEFIRE&lt;/strong&gt;," Trump said. &lt;/p&gt;
  1142.  
  1143. &lt;p&gt;The president continued, "&lt;strong&gt;Congratulations to both Countries on using Common Sense and Great Intelligence. Thank you for your attention to this matter&lt;/strong&gt;!"&lt;/p&gt;
  1144.  
  1145. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/2025-05-10_08-28-56.png?itok=cSiLDUwl" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/2025-05-10_08-28-56.png?itok=cSiLDUwl"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="17383ce4-cdf8-4734-98f3-7b6e844c2328" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="171" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/2025-05-10_08-28-56.png?itok=cSiLDUwl" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1146.  
  1147. &lt;p&gt;Trump's announcement is a surprise, but it comes after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio began back-and-forth diplomacy to end the weeks-long confrontation between India and Pakistan. &lt;/p&gt;
  1148.  
  1149. &lt;p&gt;The Guardian provided more color on Rubio's diplomatic mission: &lt;/p&gt;
  1150.  
  1151. &lt;blockquote&gt;
  1152. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Rubio has been engaged in back-and-forth diplomacy between the two countries in recent days, calling for de-escalation as India and Pakistan have been engaged in daily clashes since Wednesday.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1153.  
  1154. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;The US's top diplomat "continued to urge both parties to find ways to de-escalate and offered US assistance in starting constructive talks to avoid future conflicts," state department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said in a statement on Saturday.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1155. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  1156.  
  1157. &lt;p&gt;About 25 minutes after Trump's Truth Social post, Rubio wrote on X:&lt;/p&gt;
  1158.  
  1159. &lt;blockquote&gt;
  1160. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Over the past 48 hours, @VP Vance and I have engaged with senior Indian and Pakistani officials, including Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Shehbaz Sharif, External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Chief of Army Staff Asim Munir, and National Security Advisors Ajit Doval and Asim Malik.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1161.  
  1162. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;I am pleased to announce the Governments of India and Pakistan have agreed to an immediate ceasefire and to start talks on a broad set of issues at a neutral site.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1163.  
  1164. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;We commend Prime Ministers Modi and Sharif on their wisdom, prudence, and statesmanship in choosing the path of peace.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1165. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  1166.  
  1167. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet"&gt;
  1168. &lt;p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en" xml:lang="en"&gt;Over the past 48 hours, &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/VP?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;@VP&lt;/a&gt; Vance and I have engaged with senior Indian and Pakistani officials, including Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Shehbaz Sharif, External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Chief of Army Staff Asim Munir, and National Security Advisors Ajit…&lt;/p&gt;
  1169. — Secretary Marco Rubio (@SecRubio) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/SecRubio/status/1921175185836708140?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 10, 2025&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
  1170. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;p&gt;Earlier, G7 foreign ministers issued a joint statement calling for "immediate de-escalation" between the two countries. &lt;/p&gt;
  1171.  
  1172. &lt;p&gt;UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy and his counterparts in Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the US urged "maximum restraint from both" countries. They cautioned that "further military escalation poses a serious threat to regional stability."&lt;/p&gt;
  1173.  
  1174. &lt;p&gt;"We call for immediate de-escalation and encourage both countries to engage in direct dialogue towards a peaceful outcome," said the G7 foreign ministers.&lt;/p&gt;
  1175.  
  1176. &lt;p&gt;X user Matt Van Swol wrote: &lt;strong&gt;"How many hats can Marco Rubio wear and still deliver incredible results???? This is absolutely amazing." &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1177.  
  1178. &lt;p&gt;&lt;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/"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="f003773d-a9eb-4c54-aaa9-35cc51bedd22" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="129" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/beef%20initiative_0.JPG?itok=O9jkgYJG" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1179. &lt;/div&gt;
  1180.      &lt;span rel="schema:author" class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"&gt;&lt;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="" class="username" xml:lang=""&gt;Tyler Durden&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
  1181. &lt;span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-05-10T23:55:02+00:00" class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"&gt;Sat, 05/10/2025 - 19:55&lt;/span&gt;
  1182. </description>
  1183.  <pubDate>Sat, 10 May 2025 23:55:02 +0000</pubDate>
  1184.    <dc:creator>Tyler Durden</dc:creator>
  1185.    <guid isPermaLink="false">1029363 at https://www.zerohedge.com</guid>
  1186.    </item>
  1187. <item>
  1188.  <title>The Louisiana Purchase And Pragmatic Presidential Power</title>
  1189.  <link>https://www.zerohedge.com/political/louisiana-purchase-and-pragmatic-presidential-power</link>
  1190.  <description>&lt;span property="schema:name" class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden"&gt;The Louisiana Purchase And Pragmatic Presidential Power&lt;/span&gt;
  1191.  
  1192.            &lt;div property="schema:text" class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;a href="https://realclearwire.com/articles/2025/05/09/the_louisiana_purchase_and_pragmatic_presidential_power_1108944.html"&gt;Authored by Frank Cogliano via RealClearHistory&lt;/a&gt;,&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1193.  
  1194. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;On April 30th, 1803, American diplomats in Paris reached an agreement with the French government to purchase the Louisiana Territory for approximately $16 million.&lt;/strong&gt; It’s a massive but imprecisely defined tract of land between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains, north of modern Texas. &lt;/p&gt;
  1195.  
  1196. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/686241_png_92.jpg?itok=lVrc4l0i" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/686241_png_92.jpg?itok=lVrc4l0i"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="49054376-3843-4b36-9174-7ccfb3695049" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="321" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/686241_png_92.jpg?itok=lVrc4l0i" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1197.  
  1198. &lt;p&gt;According to the treaty’s terms, the United States would acquire approximately 828,000 square miles of territory, including the port of New Orleans. T&lt;strong&gt;he territory included approximately 60,000 non-Native settlers (French, Spanish, African, and creole – half of whom were enslaved) and around 150,000 Native Americans.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1199.  
  1200. &lt;p&gt;The Louisiana Treaty was the result of prolonged negotiations between the U.S., France, and Spain over access to the Mississippi River. After the Spanish closed New Orleans to Americans in 1802, &lt;strong&gt;President Thomas Jefferson persuaded Congress to appropriate $2 million for the purchase of the port. &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1201.  
  1202. &lt;p&gt;Napoleon Bonaparte had sought to revive the French Empire in the New World. His ambitions were frustrated by the successful resistance of formerly enslaved revolutionaries in Haiti, and in March 1803 he decided to sell all of Louisiana to the U.S. to finance his wars in Europe. &lt;/p&gt;
  1203.  
  1204. &lt;p&gt;Word of the Louisiana Treaty reached Washington on July 3, 1803. Thrilled at the news, President Jefferson shared it with the editor of “The National Intelligencer,” a newspaper friendly to his administration. It published this brief note on the Fourth of July: “The Executive have received official information that a Treaty was signed on the 30th of April between the ministers of the U.S. and France, by which the U.S. has obtained full right to and sovereignty over New Orleans and the whole of Louisiana.” At noon, Jefferson appeared on the steps of the presidential mansion to greet a crowd gathered to celebrate American independence, and confirmed that the United States had struck a deal to acquire Louisiana.&lt;/p&gt;
  1205.  
  1206. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Jefferson acknowledged the strategic importance of acquiring New Orleans&lt;/strong&gt; and hoped that the U.S. might remain an agrarian republic, a goal he thought would be furthered by the addition of so much new, farmable territory. However, he harbored doubts about whether the Constitution authorized the president to acquire territory through such a transaction. &lt;/p&gt;
  1207.  
  1208. &lt;p&gt;In coming to an agreement the American negotiators, Robert Livingston and James Monroe, had exceeded their mandate to negotiate the purchase of New Orleans for a smaller sum – which presented President Thomas Jefferson with a dilemma. &lt;/p&gt;
  1209.  
  1210. &lt;p&gt;During the summer of 1803, Jefferson drafted a proposed constitutional amendment authorizing the purchase, which he shared with members of his cabinet, including Secretary of State James Madison, Attorney General Levi Lincoln, and Treasury Secretary Albert Gallatin. &lt;/p&gt;
  1211.  
  1212. &lt;p&gt;However, &lt;strong&gt;the treaty set a six-month deadline for ratification and implementation&lt;/strong&gt;. Livingston, the American minister in Paris, reported that Napoleon was having misgivings. He feared that if the U.S. failed to meet the deadline, Napoleon would repudiate the agreement. Although he retained doubts about the treaty’s legality, Jefferson concluded that there would not be enough time to amend the Constitution.&lt;/p&gt;
  1213.  
  1214. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Jefferson was aided by public opinion.&lt;/strong&gt; The Louisiana Treaty was popular throughout the United States. Newspapers across the country welcomed the agreement as a diplomatic triumph. The Federalist opposition grumbled that East and West Florida weren’t included in the deal, but opposition to the treaty overall was limited. &lt;/p&gt;
  1215.  
  1216. &lt;p&gt;On October 20th, the Senate ratified the treaty by a margin of 24 to 7. Eight days later the House of Representatives passed an act enabling Jefferson to take possession of and govern Louisiana, appropriating the funding to make it possible. The president signed the relevant legislation into law on October 31st, just within the six-month deadline required by the treaty.&lt;/p&gt;
  1217.  
  1218. &lt;p&gt;Historians have often presented the Louisiana Treaty as a departure for Thomas Jefferson. After all, when he had served as George Washington’s secretary of state during the early 1790s, he had opposed Alexander Hamilton’s fiscal program on the grounds that the Constitution did not authorize such activities. &lt;/p&gt;
  1219.  
  1220. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;His response to the Louisiana Treaty, however, suggests that his “strict constructionist” views of the Constitution might have evolved&lt;/strong&gt;. It seemed as though he embraced “broad construction,” the view that the Constitution allowed Congress and, especially, the president to take actions which were not specifically prohibited. &lt;/p&gt;
  1221.  
  1222. &lt;p&gt;This has led Jefferson’s critics, then and now, to accuse him of hypocrisy. &lt;strong&gt;The man who sought to limit the power of his predecessors sought to exercise it when he became president.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1223.  
  1224. &lt;p&gt;Such a view, while tempting, is too simplistic. Jefferson had learned during his disastrous tenure as governor of Virginia during the War of Independence that executives sometimes need to take action in response to exigent circumstances. He did so early in his presidency when he ordered the U.S. Navy to North Africa to counter the threat posed by the Barbary states without calling Congress into session to seek a declaration of war. &lt;/p&gt;
  1225.  
  1226. &lt;p&gt;However, Jefferson believed that while presidents might need to act quickly in a crisis, they should be subject to congressional oversight, as required by the Constitution. During the Barbary War he sought &lt;em&gt;ex post facto &lt;/em&gt;congressional approval for his actions, which came in the form of funding. &lt;/p&gt;
  1227.  
  1228. &lt;p&gt;In 1803 Jefferson reasoned that if the Senate ratified the Louisiana Treaty and the House of Representatives appropriated the necessary funds to make the purchase as required by the Constitution, then the treaty would be legally binding and his actions would be vindicated. &lt;/p&gt;
  1229.  
  1230. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Pragmatism rather than hypocrisy might be the best way to describe Thomas Jefferson’s approach to presidential power. &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1231.  
  1232. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Frank Cogliano is Professor of American History at the University of Edinburgh and is a fellow with the Jack Miller Center.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1233. &lt;/div&gt;
  1234.      &lt;span rel="schema:author" class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"&gt;&lt;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="" class="username" xml:lang=""&gt;Tyler Durden&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
  1235. &lt;span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-05-10T23:50:00+00:00" class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"&gt;Sat, 05/10/2025 - 19:50&lt;/span&gt;
  1236. </description>
  1237.  <pubDate>Sat, 10 May 2025 23:50:00 +0000</pubDate>
  1238.    <dc:creator>Tyler Durden</dc:creator>
  1239.    <guid isPermaLink="false">1029341 at https://www.zerohedge.com</guid>
  1240.    </item>
  1241. <item>
  1242.  <title>States Sue Trump Admin Over Termination Of Funding For EV Charging Stations</title>
  1243.  <link>https://www.zerohedge.com/political/states-sue-trump-admin-over-termination-funding-ev-charging-stations</link>
  1244.  <description>&lt;span property="schema:name" class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden"&gt;States Sue Trump Admin Over Termination Of Funding For EV Charging Stations&lt;/span&gt;
  1245.  
  1246.            &lt;div property="schema:text" class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Trump administration is being sued by a&lt;strong&gt; coalition of 16 states and the District of Columbia over claims it is withholding billions of dollars in funding&lt;/strong&gt; approved by Congress to build electric vehicle (EV) charging stations, according to a federal lawsuit announced on April 7.&lt;/p&gt;
  1247.  
  1248. &lt;p&gt;The &lt;a href="https://coag.gov/app/uploads/2025/05/NEVI-COMPLAINT.pdf"&gt;lawsuit&lt;/a&gt; is led by attorneys general from California, Colorado, and Washington and was filed in the District Court for the Western District of Washington.&lt;/p&gt;
  1249.  
  1250. &lt;p&gt;It centers on the $5 billion in funding allocated under the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program in 2022 to facilitate electric vehicle charging infrastructure in the states.&lt;/p&gt;
  1251.  
  1252. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/image%20-%202025-05-10T114831.398.jpg?itok=p-LkqNlO" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/image%20-%202025-05-10T114831.398.jpg?itok=p-LkqNlO"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="e0b56a52-4b4c-4b8f-b83d-1222242d48b7" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="333" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/image%20-%202025-05-10T114831.398.jpg?itok=p-LkqNlO" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1253.  
  1254. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/states-sue-trump-admin-over-termination-of-ev-charging-station-funding-5854281?utm_source=partner&amp;utm_campaign=ZeroHedge"&gt;As Katabella Roberts reports for The Epoch Times&lt;/a&gt;,&lt;strong&gt; that funding was established through the Biden administration’s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act,&lt;/strong&gt; also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, amid a push towards achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 and making at least &lt;a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/department-of-transportation-halts-funding-for-electric-vehicle-charging-infrastructure-5806066"&gt;500,000&lt;/a&gt; publicly available EV chargers in the United States by the end of this decade.&lt;/p&gt;
  1255.  
  1256. &lt;p&gt;Congress required the $5 billion funding to be distributed among the states over fiscal years 2022 through 2026.&lt;/p&gt;
  1257.  
  1258. &lt;p&gt;So far, an estimated $3.3 billion had already been made available, according to the lawsuit.&lt;/p&gt;
  1259.  
  1260. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Shortly after taking office in January, President Donald Trump issued an &lt;a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/unleashing-american-energy/"&gt;executive order&lt;/a&gt; titled “Unleashing American Energy,” in which he directed federal agencies to “immediately pause” all funds appropriated via the Infrastructure Law, &lt;/strong&gt;including the funds allocated for EV charging stations made available through the NEVI program.&lt;/p&gt;
  1261.  
  1262. &lt;p&gt;The order stated that America is “blessed with an abundance of energy and natural resources that have historically powered our Nation’s economic prosperity,” but that, in recent years, “burdensome and ideologically motivated regulations” have impeded the development of those resources, while also limiting the generation of reliable and affordable electricity, reducing job creation, and increasing energy costs.&lt;/p&gt;
  1263.  
  1264. &lt;p&gt;Following Trump’s directive, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), an agency under the Department of Transportation (DOT), &lt;a href="https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/nevi/resources/state-plan-approval-suspension.pdf"&gt;announced&lt;/a&gt; it was suspending the commitment of funds under the NEVI program and rescinded approval of state plans, pending a review.&lt;/p&gt;
  1265.  
  1266. &lt;p&gt;The lawsuit challenges the FHWA’s authority to terminate the funding and claims its actions deprive the states of billions of dollars in appropriated funds and violate the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), the Separation of Powers Doctrine, and the Take Care Clause, among others.&lt;/p&gt;
  1267.  
  1268. &lt;blockquote&gt;
  1269. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;“This infrastructure is critical to the success of plaintiff states’ environmental, public health, and transportation programs—projects Congress actively chose to support in enacting the [Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act] and establishing the NEVI Formula Program. &lt;strong&gt;The harms to plaintiff states will continue and become increasingly damaging if unabated&lt;/strong&gt;,” the states wrote in the suit.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1270. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  1271.  
  1272. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The lawsuit asks the court to declare Trump’s directives unlawful, to vacate the administration’s actions, and permanently stop it from withholding the funds.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1273.  
  1274. &lt;p&gt;Department of Transportation and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and Federal Highway Administration Administrator Gloria Shepherd are listed as defendants.&lt;/p&gt;
  1275.  
  1276. &lt;p&gt;In a &lt;a href="https://www.gov.ca.gov/2025/05/07/california-sues-trump-administration-for-illegally-withholding-billions-in-bipartisan-infrastructure-funds-another-trump-gift-to-china/"&gt;statement&lt;/a&gt; announcing the suit, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta said the administration’s decision “will devastate the ability of states to build the charging infrastructure necessary for making EVs accessible to more consumers, combating climate change, reducing other harmful pollution, and supporting the states’ green economies.”&lt;/p&gt;
  1277.  
  1278. &lt;blockquote&gt;
  1279. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;“President Trump’s illegal action withholding funds for electric vehicle infrastructure is yet another Trump gift to China—ceding American innovation and killing thousands of jobs,”&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt; they said.&lt;/p&gt;
  1280.  
  1281. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;“Instead of hawking Teslas on the White House lawn, President Trump could actually help Elon - and the nation - by following the law and releasing this bipartisan funding.”&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1282. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  1283.  
  1284. &lt;p&gt;The attorneys general of Arizona, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Wisconsin, and Vermont joined the lawsuit.&lt;/p&gt;
  1285.  
  1286. &lt;p&gt;The Epoch Times has contacted the Department of Transportation and Tesla for comment.&lt;/p&gt;
  1287. &lt;/div&gt;
  1288.      &lt;span rel="schema:author" class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"&gt;&lt;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="" class="username" xml:lang=""&gt;Tyler Durden&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
  1289. &lt;span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-05-10T23:15:00+00:00" class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"&gt;Sat, 05/10/2025 - 19:15&lt;/span&gt;
  1290. </description>
  1291.  <pubDate>Sat, 10 May 2025 23:15:00 +0000</pubDate>
  1292.    <dc:creator>Tyler Durden</dc:creator>
  1293.    <guid isPermaLink="false">1029380 at https://www.zerohedge.com</guid>
  1294.    </item>
  1295. <item>
  1296.  <title>FDA To Deploy Artificial Intelligence Across Agency</title>
  1297.  <link>https://www.zerohedge.com/technology/fda-deploy-artificial-intelligence-across-agency</link>
  1298.  <description>&lt;span property="schema:name" class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden"&gt;FDA To Deploy Artificial Intelligence Across Agency&lt;/span&gt;
  1299.  
  1300.            &lt;div property="schema:text" class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/health/fda-to-deploy-artificial-intelligence-across-agency-5854634?utm_source=partner&amp;utm_campaign=ZeroHedge&amp;src_src=partner&amp;src_cmp=ZeroHedge"&gt;Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times&lt;/a&gt; (emphasis ours),&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1301.  
  1302. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is planning to roll out artificial intelligence across the agency&lt;/strong&gt; following a successful pilot program.&lt;/p&gt;
  1303. &lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/image_92%288%29_0.jpg?itok=YMZ2ARxN" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/image_92%288%29_0.jpg?itok=YMZ2ARxN"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;figure role="group" class="caption caption-img inline-images image-style-inline-images"&gt;&lt;img alt="" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="32cfbeb5-cecf-43ed-a510-b0b8d305a4ba" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="333" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/image_92%288%29_0.jpg?itok=YMZ2ARxN" typeof="foaf:Image" width="500" /&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;&lt;em&gt;The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in White Oak, Md., on June 5, 2023. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
  1304.  
  1305. &lt;p&gt;FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary has directed all FDA centers to immediately start using artificial intelligence (AI) and fully integrate it by the end of June, the FDA &lt;a href="https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-announces-completion-first-ai-assisted-scientific-review-pilot-and-aggressive-agency-wide-ai"&gt;said&lt;/a&gt; in a May 8 statement.&lt;/p&gt;
  1306.  
  1307. &lt;p&gt;By June 30, all centers will use what the agency described as &lt;strong&gt;a “common, secure generative AI system integrated with FDA’s internal data platforms.”&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1308.  
  1309. &lt;p&gt;“I was blown away by the success of our first AI-assisted scientific review pilot,“ Makary said in a statement. ”We need to value our scientists’ time and reduce the amount of non-productive busywork that has historically consumed much of the review process. &lt;strong&gt;The agency-wide deployment of these capabilities holds tremendous promise in accelerating the review time for new therapies&lt;/strong&gt;.”&lt;/p&gt;
  1310.  
  1311. &lt;p&gt;AI refers to computer systems that can carry out complex tasks typically performed by humans.&lt;/p&gt;
  1312.  
  1313. &lt;p&gt;“AI can be generally described as a branch of computer science, statistics, and engineering that uses algorithms or models to perform tasks and exhibit behaviors such as learning, making decisions, and making predictions,” FDA officials said in 2023.&lt;/p&gt;
  1314.  
  1315. &lt;p&gt;Makary said on Thursday that &lt;strong&gt;past years have featured discussions on utilizing AI and that it’s time to start using it to save time, with some tasks that once took days now taking mere minutes.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1316.  
  1317. &lt;p&gt;“We at the FDA now have to ask big questions that we’ve never asked before. Why does it take over 10 years for a new drug to come to market? Why are we not modernized with AI and other things? We’ve just completed our first AI-assisted scientific review for a product and that’s just the beginning,” he &lt;a href="https://x.com/DrMakaryFDA/status/1920151300429185233"&gt;said&lt;/a&gt; earlier in the week on social media platform X.&lt;/p&gt;
  1318.  
  1319. &lt;p&gt;The rollout across the FDA is being coordinated by Jeremy Walsh, Booz Allen Hamilton’s former chief technologist, who was recently appointed as the agency’s chief AI officer, and Sridhar Mantha, who previously led the Office of Business Informatics at the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research.&lt;/p&gt;
  1320.  
  1321. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;President Donald Trump has encouraged agencies to adopt wider use of AI,&lt;/strong&gt; including through an executive order that &lt;a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/removing-barriers-to-american-leadership-in-artificial-intelligence/"&gt;said&lt;/a&gt; it is U.S. policy to “sustain and enhance America’s global AI dominance in order to promote human flourishing, economic competitiveness, and national security.”&lt;/p&gt;
  1322.  
  1323. &lt;p&gt;An April memorandum from the White House &lt;a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/M-25-21-Accelerating-Federal-Use-of-AI-through-Innovation-Governance-and-Public-Trust.pdf"&gt;said&lt;/a&gt; that agencies “must adopt a forward-leaning and pro-innovation approach that takes advantage of this technology to help shape the future of government operations.”&lt;/p&gt;
  1324.  
  1325. &lt;p&gt;The FDA had previously &lt;a href="https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/medical-device-regulatory-science-research-programs-conducted-osel/identifying-and-measuring-artificial-intelligence-ai-bias-enhancing-health-equity"&gt;expressed&lt;/a&gt; concern that AI contains bias that may “worsen inequalities in health care delivery,” while also &lt;a href="https://www.fda.gov/media/167973/download"&gt;saying&lt;/a&gt; AI could speed up review of drug applications to bring quicker timelines for making drugs available to patients.&lt;/p&gt;
  1326. &lt;/div&gt;
  1327.      &lt;span rel="schema:author" class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"&gt;&lt;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="" class="username" xml:lang=""&gt;Tyler Durden&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
  1328. &lt;span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-05-10T22:40:00+00:00" class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"&gt;Sat, 05/10/2025 - 18:40&lt;/span&gt;
  1329. </description>
  1330.  <pubDate>Sat, 10 May 2025 22:40:00 +0000</pubDate>
  1331.    <dc:creator>Tyler Durden</dc:creator>
  1332.    <guid isPermaLink="false">1029343 at https://www.zerohedge.com</guid>
  1333.    </item>
  1334. <item>
  1335.  <title>These Are The World's 50 Most Valuable Companies</title>
  1336.  <link>https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/these-are-worlds-50-most-valuable-companies</link>
  1337.  <description>&lt;span property="schema:name" class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden"&gt;These Are The World's 50 Most Valuable Companies&lt;/span&gt;
  1338.  
  1339.            &lt;div property="schema:text" class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"&gt;&lt;p&gt;The world’s most valuable companies hold immense sway over the global economy, shaping everything from technology to consumer trends. As of May 2025, U.S. giants like Apple, Microsoft, and Nvidia are worth trillions of dollars, reflecting America’s long-standing leadership in innovation and capital markets.&lt;/p&gt;
  1340.  
  1341. &lt;p&gt;In this graphic, &lt;a href="https://www.visualcapitalist.com/ranked-the-worlds-50-most-valuable-companies-in-2025/"&gt;Visual Capitalist's Marcus Lu ranks&lt;/a&gt; the world’s 50 most valuable companies, color coding them according to their country of origin.&lt;/p&gt;
  1342.  
  1343. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/Worlds-Top-50-Companies-May-2025.jpg?itok=hqYMZ_i_" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/Worlds-Top-50-Companies-May-2025.jpg?itok=hqYMZ_i_"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="7c3d6425-7a8f-44ca-8071-7bd729ffe235" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="652" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/Worlds-Top-50-Companies-May-2025.jpg?itok=hqYMZ_i_" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1344.  
  1345. &lt;h2&gt;Data &amp; Discussion&lt;/h2&gt;
  1346.  
  1347. &lt;p&gt;The figures we used to create this graphic were sourced from &lt;a href="https://companiesmarketcap.com/"&gt;companiesmarketcap.com&lt;/a&gt;, as of May 5, 2025.&lt;/p&gt;
  1348.  
  1349. &lt;table class="tablepress tablepress-id-5643" id="tablepress-5643"&gt;&lt;thead&gt;&lt;tr class="row-1"&gt;&lt;th class="column-1"&gt;Rank&lt;/th&gt;
  1350. &lt;th class="column-2"&gt;Name&lt;/th&gt;
  1351. &lt;th class="column-3"&gt;Country&lt;/th&gt;
  1352. &lt;th class="column-4"&gt;Market Cap&lt;/th&gt;
  1353. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/thead&gt;&lt;tbody class="row-striping row-hover"&gt;&lt;tr class="row-2"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;1&lt;/td&gt;
  1354. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;Microsoft&lt;/td&gt;
  1355. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;🇺🇸 United States&lt;/td&gt;
  1356. &lt;td class="column-4"&gt;$3,241,850,000,000&lt;/td&gt;
  1357. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-3"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;2&lt;/td&gt;
  1358. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;Apple&lt;/td&gt;
  1359. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;🇺🇸 United States&lt;/td&gt;
  1360. &lt;td class="column-4"&gt;$2,970,580,000,000&lt;/td&gt;
  1361. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-4"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;3&lt;/td&gt;
  1362. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;NVIDIA&lt;/td&gt;
  1363. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;🇺🇸 United States&lt;/td&gt;
  1364. &lt;td class="column-4"&gt;$2,777,210,000,000&lt;/td&gt;
  1365. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-5"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;4&lt;/td&gt;
  1366. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;Alphabet&lt;/td&gt;
  1367. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;🇺🇸 United States&lt;/td&gt;
  1368. &lt;td class="column-4"&gt;$2,003,080,000,000&lt;/td&gt;
  1369. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-6"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;5&lt;/td&gt;
  1370. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;Amazon&lt;/td&gt;
  1371. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;🇺🇸 United States&lt;/td&gt;
  1372. &lt;td class="column-4"&gt;$1,978,370,000,000&lt;/td&gt;
  1373. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-7"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;6&lt;/td&gt;
  1374. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;Saudi Aramco&lt;/td&gt;
  1375. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia&lt;/td&gt;
  1376. &lt;td class="column-4"&gt;$1,622,480,000,000&lt;/td&gt;
  1377. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-8"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;7&lt;/td&gt;
  1378. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;Meta&lt;/td&gt;
  1379. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;🇺🇸 United States&lt;/td&gt;
  1380. &lt;td class="column-4"&gt;$1,512,830,000,000&lt;/td&gt;
  1381. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-9"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;8&lt;/td&gt;
  1382. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;Berkshire Hathaway&lt;/td&gt;
  1383. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;🇺🇸 United States&lt;/td&gt;
  1384. &lt;td class="column-4"&gt;$1,104,700,000,000&lt;/td&gt;
  1385. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-10"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;9&lt;/td&gt;
  1386. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;Broadcom&lt;/td&gt;
  1387. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;🇺🇸 United States&lt;/td&gt;
  1388. &lt;td class="column-4"&gt;$943,775,000,000&lt;/td&gt;
  1389. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-11"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;10&lt;/td&gt;
  1390. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;TSMC&lt;/td&gt;
  1391. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;🇹🇼 Taiwan&lt;/td&gt;
  1392. &lt;td class="column-4"&gt;$914,907,000,000&lt;/td&gt;
  1393. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-12"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;11&lt;/td&gt;
  1394. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;Tesla&lt;/td&gt;
  1395. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;🇺🇸 United States&lt;/td&gt;
  1396. &lt;td class="column-4"&gt;$902,706,000,000&lt;/td&gt;
  1397. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-13"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;12&lt;/td&gt;
  1398. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;Walmart&lt;/td&gt;
  1399. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;🇺🇸 United States&lt;/td&gt;
  1400. &lt;td class="column-4"&gt;$794,728,000,000&lt;/td&gt;
  1401. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-14"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;13&lt;/td&gt;
  1402. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;Eli Lilly&lt;/td&gt;
  1403. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;🇺🇸 United States&lt;/td&gt;
  1404. &lt;td class="column-4"&gt;$737,662,000,000&lt;/td&gt;
  1405. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-15"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;14&lt;/td&gt;
  1406. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;JPMorgan Chase&lt;/td&gt;
  1407. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;🇺🇸 United States&lt;/td&gt;
  1408. &lt;td class="column-4"&gt;$701,887,000,000&lt;/td&gt;
  1409. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-16"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;15&lt;/td&gt;
  1410. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;Visa&lt;/td&gt;
  1411. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;🇺🇸 United States&lt;/td&gt;
  1412. &lt;td class="column-4"&gt;$668,214,000,000&lt;/td&gt;
  1413. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-17"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;16&lt;/td&gt;
  1414. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;Tencent&lt;/td&gt;
  1415. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;🇨🇳 China&lt;/td&gt;
  1416. &lt;td class="column-4"&gt;$579,706,000,000&lt;/td&gt;
  1417. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-18"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;17&lt;/td&gt;
  1418. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;Mastercard&lt;/td&gt;
  1419. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;🇺🇸 United States&lt;/td&gt;
  1420. &lt;td class="column-4"&gt;$509,590,000,000&lt;/td&gt;
  1421. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-19"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;18&lt;/td&gt;
  1422. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;Netflix&lt;/td&gt;
  1423. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;🇺🇸 United States&lt;/td&gt;
  1424. &lt;td class="column-4"&gt;$482,623,000,000&lt;/td&gt;
  1425. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-20"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;19&lt;/td&gt;
  1426. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;Costco&lt;/td&gt;
  1427. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;🇺🇸 United States&lt;/td&gt;
  1428. &lt;td class="column-4"&gt;$450,289,000,000&lt;/td&gt;
  1429. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-21"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;20&lt;/td&gt;
  1430. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;Exxon Mobil&lt;/td&gt;
  1431. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;🇺🇸 United States&lt;/td&gt;
  1432. &lt;td class="column-4"&gt;$445,094,000,000&lt;/td&gt;
  1433. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-22"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;21&lt;/td&gt;
  1434. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;Oracle&lt;/td&gt;
  1435. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;🇺🇸 United States&lt;/td&gt;
  1436. &lt;td class="column-4"&gt;$418,643,000,000&lt;/td&gt;
  1437. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-23"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;22&lt;/td&gt;
  1438. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;Johnson &amp; Johnson&lt;/td&gt;
  1439. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;🇺🇸 United States&lt;/td&gt;
  1440. &lt;td class="column-4"&gt;$372,941,000,000&lt;/td&gt;
  1441. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-24"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;23&lt;/td&gt;
  1442. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;Procter &amp; Gamble&lt;/td&gt;
  1443. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;🇺🇸 United States&lt;/td&gt;
  1444. &lt;td class="column-4"&gt;$372,383,000,000&lt;/td&gt;
  1445. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-25"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;24&lt;/td&gt;
  1446. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;UnitedHealth&lt;/td&gt;
  1447. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;🇺🇸 United States&lt;/td&gt;
  1448. &lt;td class="column-4"&gt;$368,468,000,000&lt;/td&gt;
  1449. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-26"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;25&lt;/td&gt;
  1450. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;Home Depot&lt;/td&gt;
  1451. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;🇺🇸 United States&lt;/td&gt;
  1452. &lt;td class="column-4"&gt;$359,534,000,000&lt;/td&gt;
  1453. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-27"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;26&lt;/td&gt;
  1454. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;SAP&lt;/td&gt;
  1455. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;🇩🇪 Germany&lt;/td&gt;
  1456. &lt;td class="column-4"&gt;$353,045,000,000&lt;/td&gt;
  1457. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-28"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;27&lt;/td&gt;
  1458. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;AbbVie&lt;/td&gt;
  1459. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;🇺🇸 United States&lt;/td&gt;
  1460. &lt;td class="column-4"&gt;$346,844,000,000&lt;/td&gt;
  1461. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-29"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;28&lt;/td&gt;
  1462. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;ICBC&lt;/td&gt;
  1463. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;🇨🇳 China&lt;/td&gt;
  1464. &lt;td class="column-4"&gt;$319,841,000,000&lt;/td&gt;
  1465. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-30"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;29&lt;/td&gt;
  1466. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;Bank of America&lt;/td&gt;
  1467. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;🇺🇸 United States&lt;/td&gt;
  1468. &lt;td class="column-4"&gt;$309,711,000,000&lt;/td&gt;
  1469. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-31"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;30&lt;/td&gt;
  1470. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;Coca-Cola&lt;/td&gt;
  1471. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;🇺🇸 United States&lt;/td&gt;
  1472. &lt;td class="column-4"&gt;$308,616,000,000&lt;/td&gt;
  1473. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-32"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;31&lt;/td&gt;
  1474. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;Novo Nordisk&lt;/td&gt;
  1475. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;🇩🇰 Denmark&lt;/td&gt;
  1476. &lt;td class="column-4"&gt;$305,812,000,000&lt;/td&gt;
  1477. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-33"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;32&lt;/td&gt;
  1478. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;Alibaba&lt;/td&gt;
  1479. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;🇨🇳 China&lt;/td&gt;
  1480. &lt;td class="column-4"&gt;$302,206,000,000&lt;/td&gt;
  1481. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-34"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;33&lt;/td&gt;
  1482. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;Hermès&lt;/td&gt;
  1483. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;🇫🇷 France&lt;/td&gt;
  1484. &lt;td class="column-4"&gt;$292,331,000,000&lt;/td&gt;
  1485. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-35"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;34&lt;/td&gt;
  1486. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;Palantir&lt;/td&gt;
  1487. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;🇺🇸 United States&lt;/td&gt;
  1488. &lt;td class="column-4"&gt;$292,059,000,000&lt;/td&gt;
  1489. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-36"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;35&lt;/td&gt;
  1490. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;T-Mobile US&lt;/td&gt;
  1491. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;🇺🇸 United States&lt;/td&gt;
  1492. &lt;td class="column-4"&gt;$281,932,000,000&lt;/td&gt;
  1493. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-37"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;36&lt;/td&gt;
  1494. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;LVMH&lt;/td&gt;
  1495. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;🇫🇷 France&lt;/td&gt;
  1496. &lt;td class="column-4"&gt;$277,473,000,000&lt;/td&gt;
  1497. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-38"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;37&lt;/td&gt;
  1498. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;Nestlé&lt;/td&gt;
  1499. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;🇨🇭 Switzerland&lt;/td&gt;
  1500. &lt;td class="column-4"&gt;$272,769,000,000&lt;/td&gt;
  1501. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-39"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;38&lt;/td&gt;
  1502. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;Philip Morris International&lt;/td&gt;
  1503. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;🇺🇸 United States&lt;/td&gt;
  1504. &lt;td class="column-4"&gt;$269,574,000,000&lt;/td&gt;
  1505. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-40"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;39&lt;/td&gt;
  1506. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;ASML&lt;/td&gt;
  1507. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;🇳🇱 Netherlands&lt;/td&gt;
  1508. &lt;td class="column-4"&gt;$268,697,000,000&lt;/td&gt;
  1509. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-41"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;40&lt;/td&gt;
  1510. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;Kweichow Moutai&lt;/td&gt;
  1511. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;🇨🇳 China&lt;/td&gt;
  1512. &lt;td class="column-4"&gt;$267,306,000,000&lt;/td&gt;
  1513. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-42"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;41&lt;/td&gt;
  1514. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;Roche&lt;/td&gt;
  1515. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;🇨🇭 Switzerland&lt;/td&gt;
  1516. &lt;td class="column-4"&gt;$265,138,000,000&lt;/td&gt;
  1517. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-43"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;42&lt;/td&gt;
  1518. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;Salesforce&lt;/td&gt;
  1519. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;🇺🇸 United States&lt;/td&gt;
  1520. &lt;td class="column-4"&gt;$261,581,000,000&lt;/td&gt;
  1521. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-44"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;43&lt;/td&gt;
  1522. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;Samsung&lt;/td&gt;
  1523. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;🇰🇷 South Korea&lt;/td&gt;
  1524. &lt;td class="column-4"&gt;$260,653,000,000&lt;/td&gt;
  1525. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-45"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;44&lt;/td&gt;
  1526. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;Agricultural Bank of China&lt;/td&gt;
  1527. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;🇨🇳 China&lt;/td&gt;
  1528. &lt;td class="column-4"&gt;$256,870,000,000&lt;/td&gt;
  1529. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-46"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;45&lt;/td&gt;
  1530. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;Toyota&lt;/td&gt;
  1531. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;🇯🇵 Japan&lt;/td&gt;
  1532. &lt;td class="column-4"&gt;$250,853,000,000&lt;/td&gt;
  1533. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-47"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;46&lt;/td&gt;
  1534. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;Wells Fargo&lt;/td&gt;
  1535. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;🇺🇸 United States&lt;/td&gt;
  1536. &lt;td class="column-4"&gt;$240,321,000,000&lt;/td&gt;
  1537. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-48"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;47&lt;/td&gt;
  1538. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;International Holding Company&lt;/td&gt;
  1539. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates&lt;/td&gt;
  1540. &lt;td class="column-4"&gt;$240,030,000,000&lt;/td&gt;
  1541. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-49"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;48&lt;/td&gt;
  1542. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;Chevron&lt;/td&gt;
  1543. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;🇺🇸 United States&lt;/td&gt;
  1544. &lt;td class="column-4"&gt;$236,681,000,000&lt;/td&gt;
  1545. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-50"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;49&lt;/td&gt;
  1546. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;Cisco&lt;/td&gt;
  1547. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;🇺🇸 United States&lt;/td&gt;
  1548. &lt;td class="column-4"&gt;$235,992,000,000&lt;/td&gt;
  1549. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-51"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;50&lt;/td&gt;
  1550. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;L'Oreal&lt;/td&gt;
  1551. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;🇫🇷 France&lt;/td&gt;
  1552. &lt;td class="column-4"&gt;$235,450,000,000&lt;/td&gt;
  1553. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;p&gt;The two largest companies in this graphic, Microsoft and Apple, have regularly &lt;a href="https://www.visualcapitalist.com/americas-most-valuable-company-in-each-year-1995-2025/"&gt;swapped places&lt;/a&gt; as the world’s most valuable company over the past decade.&lt;/p&gt;
  1554.  
  1555. &lt;p&gt;Both companies are integrating artificial intelligence into their product offerings, which has helped fuel their market cap growth in recent years.&lt;/p&gt;
  1556.  
  1557. &lt;p&gt;Next, let’s take a closer look at some of the non-U.S. companies in this graphic.&lt;/p&gt;
  1558.  
  1559. &lt;h4&gt;🇦🇪 International Holding Company (IHC)&lt;/h4&gt;
  1560.  
  1561. &lt;p&gt;International Holding Company (IHC), based in Abu Dhabi, has rapidly become one of the Middle East’s most valuable firms with a market capitalization of $240 billion.&lt;/p&gt;
  1562.  
  1563. &lt;p&gt;Originally a fishing company, IHC has transformed into a conglomerate with investments across healthcare, agriculture, real estate, and artificial intelligence. This includes a $50M investment in Elon Musk’s &lt;a href="https://www.agbi.com/banking-finance/2022/06/abu-dhabi-firms-invest-25m-each-in-elon-musks-spacex/"&gt;SpaceX&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
  1564.  
  1565. &lt;h4&gt;🇹🇼 TSMC&lt;/h4&gt;
  1566.  
  1567. &lt;p&gt;Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) holds a market cap of almost $1 trillion, making it the most valuable company in Asia. As the world’s largest dedicated semiconductor foundry, TSMC manufactures chips for major names like Apple, Nvidia, and AMD.&lt;/p&gt;
  1568.  
  1569. &lt;p&gt;Check out &lt;a href="https://www.visualcapitalist.com/the-value-of-the-global-semiconductor-industry-in-one-giant-chart/"&gt;this graphic&lt;/a&gt; from January 2025 to see a market capitalization breakdown of the global semiconductor industry.&lt;/p&gt;
  1570.  
  1571. &lt;h4&gt;🇨🇳 Tencent&lt;/h4&gt;
  1572.  
  1573. &lt;p&gt;Tencent, with a market cap of nearly $600 billion, remains one of China’s most influential tech companies despite &lt;a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/22/business/chinese-tech-giants-shares-plunge-online-gaming-ban-intl-hnk"&gt;regulatory headwinds&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
  1574.  
  1575. &lt;p&gt;The company is best known for its WeChat platform, but is also involved in gaming, cloud services, fintech, and even original content production. Through its Tencent Video platform, which has over 120 million paid subscribers, the company produces a variety of dramas, shows, and animations.&lt;/p&gt;
  1576.  
  1577. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;If you enjoyed today’s post, check out this map showing the &lt;a href="https://www.voronoiapp.com/markets/Billion-Dollar-Companies-by-Country-in-2025--4925"&gt;number of billion dollar companies by country in 2025&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1578. &lt;/div&gt;
  1579.      &lt;span rel="schema:author" class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"&gt;&lt;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="" class="username" xml:lang=""&gt;Tyler Durden&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
  1580. &lt;span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-05-10T22:05:00+00:00" class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"&gt;Sat, 05/10/2025 - 18:05&lt;/span&gt;
  1581. </description>
  1582.  <pubDate>Sat, 10 May 2025 22:05:00 +0000</pubDate>
  1583.    <dc:creator>Tyler Durden</dc:creator>
  1584.    <guid isPermaLink="false">1029379 at https://www.zerohedge.com</guid>
  1585.    </item>
  1586. <item>
  1587.  <title>80% Of 'Liberal' Americans Want Elon Musk Thrown In Prison</title>
  1588.  <link>https://www.zerohedge.com/political/80-liberal-americans-want-elon-musk-thrown-prison</link>
  1589.  <description>&lt;span property="schema:name" class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden"&gt;80% Of 'Liberal' Americans Want Elon Musk Thrown In Prison&lt;/span&gt;
  1590.  
  1591.            &lt;div property="schema:text" class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://modernity.news/2025/05/10/wheres-due-process-now"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1592.  
  1593. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A new Rasmussen poll has found that 80 percent of Americans identifying as ‘Liberal’ would like to see Elon Musk thrown in prison merely for being involved with the Department of Government Efficiency.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1594.  
  1595. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/Elon_Musk_Colorado_2022_0.jpg?itok=WfPJoTlU" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/Elon_Musk_Colorado_2022_0.jpg?itok=WfPJoTlU"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="339b5bd8-9b1f-435b-af84-e913124e3df2" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="281" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/Elon_Musk_Colorado_2022_0.jpg?itok=WfPJoTlU" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1596.  
  1597. &lt;p&gt;The poll found that almost three quarters of Democrats want Musk jailed, but when extended to those describing themselves as ‘Liberal’ the amount rose to 80 percent.&lt;/p&gt;
  1598.  
  1599. &lt;p&gt;The question was worded &lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;“Would you support a hypothetical law that would imprison Elon Musk for his role in DOGE?”&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1600.  
  1601. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet"&gt;
  1602. &lt;p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en" xml:lang="en"&gt;FULL STORY:&lt;a href="https://t.co/EqwfwI5MAs"&gt;https://t.co/EqwfwI5MAs&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1603. — Rasmussen Reports (@Rasmussen_Poll) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/Rasmussen_Poll/status/1920455528217522310?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 8, 2025&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
  1604. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;p&gt;“A new telephone and online survey … of 1,067 U.S. Likely Voters was conducted on April 30-May 4, 2025 …  finds that 54% of Likely Voters would support a hypothetical law that would imprison Musk for his role in the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE),” reads &lt;a href="https://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/partner_surveys/71_of_democrats_want_elon_musk_in_prison" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank"&gt;the report&lt;/a&gt; from Rasmussen.&lt;/p&gt;
  1605.  
  1606. &lt;p&gt;This includes “39% who would Strongly Support such a law,” it continues.&lt;/p&gt;
  1607.  
  1608. &lt;p&gt;A more ‘moderate’ 68 percent said they would support a law banning Musk from being involved in any way with government, presumably purely because he is supportive of President Trump.&lt;/p&gt;
  1609.  
  1610. &lt;p&gt;“The fact that a majority of Democratic voters would support imprisoning Elon Musk for trying to make government more efficient is a shocking indictment of the modern left, which has become increasingly more tyrannical in recent years,” said Justin Haskins, senior fellow at The Heartland Institute, who co-conducted the poll with Rasmussen.&lt;/p&gt;
  1611.  
  1612. &lt;p&gt;He added, &lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;“We’ve reached a point where many Americans would rather unjustly punish innovation than fix the broken systems Musk was trying to reform.”&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1613.  
  1614. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none"&gt;
  1615. &lt;p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en" xml:lang="en"&gt;For what crime exactly?&lt;/p&gt;
  1616. — LisaO (@lisachriso) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/lisachriso/status/1920490078171808251?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 8, 2025&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
  1617. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none"&gt;
  1618. &lt;p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en" xml:lang="en"&gt;Due process for me, but not for thee.&lt;/p&gt;
  1619. — Lakota Patriot (@n8ivpatriot) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/n8ivpatriot/status/1920481795839082925?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 8, 2025&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
  1620. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;p&gt;It proves Musk was right when he recently posted this:&lt;/p&gt;
  1621.  
  1622. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet"&gt;
  1623. &lt;p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en" xml:lang="en"&gt;When the radical left can’t win via democratic vote, they abuse the legal system to jail their opponents.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
  1624. This is their standard playbook throughout the world. &lt;a href="https://t.co/FgmgeyQ2rp"&gt;https://t.co/FgmgeyQ2rp&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1625. — gorklon rust (@elonmusk) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1906722265879683381?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;March 31, 2025&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
  1626. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none"&gt;
  1627. &lt;p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en" xml:lang="en"&gt;He's exposing their waste and fraud.&lt;/p&gt;
  1628. — Will 🇺🇸 (@NoLeftTurns) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/NoLeftTurns/status/1920479775853887515?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 8, 2025&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
  1629. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none"&gt;
  1630. &lt;p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en" xml:lang="en"&gt;Expose the truth, and the left wants you locked up.&lt;/p&gt;
  1631. — Masculine Based (@MasculineBased) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/MasculineBased/status/1920477658455875702?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 8, 2025&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
  1632. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;p&gt;Or worse.&lt;/p&gt;
  1633.  
  1634. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none"&gt;
  1635. &lt;p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en" xml:lang="en"&gt;That’s not a criminal; that’s a patriot. Musk is doing what our so-called leaders should be doing. shining a light on corruption. But the left? They'd rather protect the swamp.&lt;/p&gt;
  1636. — Make Men Great Again (@OneXOneY) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/OneXOneY/status/1920477744422625400?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 8, 2025&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
  1637. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none"&gt;
  1638. &lt;p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en" xml:lang="en"&gt;Demons don't like the light. 💀&lt;/p&gt;
  1639. — M (@FrivolouslyPink) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/FrivolouslyPink/status/1920506216985268684?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 8, 2025&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
  1640. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;p&gt;* * *&lt;/p&gt;
  1641.  
  1642. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Your support is crucial in helping us defeat mass censorship. Please consider donating via &lt;a href="https://pauljosephwatson.locals.com/support" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank"&gt;Locals&lt;/a&gt; or check out our unique &lt;a href="https://www.modernity.news/shop" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank"&gt;merch&lt;/a&gt;. Follow us on X &lt;a href="https://x.com/modernitynews" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank"&gt;@ModernityNews&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
  1643. &lt;/div&gt;
  1644.      &lt;span rel="schema:author" class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"&gt;&lt;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="" class="username" xml:lang=""&gt;Tyler Durden&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
  1645. &lt;span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2025-05-10T21:30:00+00:00" class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"&gt;Sat, 05/10/2025 - 17:30&lt;/span&gt;
  1646. </description>
  1647.  <pubDate>Sat, 10 May 2025 21:30:00 +0000</pubDate>
  1648.    <dc:creator>Tyler Durden</dc:creator>
  1649.    <guid isPermaLink="false">1029386 at https://www.zerohedge.com</guid>
  1650.    </item>
  1651.  
  1652.  </channel>
  1653. </rss>
  1654.  

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