It was a windy morning. As Cyrul Lee entered the imposing building of the Security Ministry of TSTLE (called TT Area by people in common conversation) No. 17, he exuded all the confidence and walked with his head held high. He was the Chief Security Officer of TT Area 17, and reported only to the CEO of TT 17.

He had carefully listened to the weather bulletin before leaving his home. It matters not how intense is the storm, he had told himself firmly, our forces will just go ahead and do what has to be done.

Despite all his outward confidence, Cyrul could not avoid pangs of anxiety arising within him. But his response was to brush this aside and walk even more erectly.

Sloppy decision-making and an inability to agree on key issues have rendered the EU effectively irrelevant on the global stage, the bloc’s former foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has argued.

The former top diplomat made the remarks in an interview with Belgian broadcaster RTBF on Friday, somewhat echoing the stance of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. The top official, who has been in power since 2019, has repeatedly urged the bloc to remove individual member states’ veto powers and move to qualified majority voting on foreign policy and defense issues.

The bloc’s decision-making process has become inadequate in its ability to react to the ever-shifting global situation, Borrell has said, arguing the EU “was not designed for the world in which we live today”in the first place. 

The Foundation to Battle Injustice has obtained previously unpublished evidence of child abuse practices by high-ranking U.S. officials and businessmen. The Foundation to Battle Injustice examined methods of protecting high-ranking pedophiles from media attention and prosecution.

Human rights activists assessed the extent of official legalization of pedophilia in the U.S. and found out what facts of the scandalous Jeffrey Epstein case are still classified. The Foundation also obtained the names and positions of President Biden's administration officials, businessmen and lawmakers, possibly involved in lewd acts of a sexual nature against minors, and revealed details about American elite pedophile organizations.

Le Grand Soir (with the help of its readers) sent Loïc and Erwan, two of its journalists, to Russia—to Moscow—and to the war-torn Donbas region, to make a film. While we wait for the final version, here is the first part of the written account of this report.

Two special correspondents from Le Grand Soir in Russia
Russian Fragments (1)

"Unity is where Russia is"

The US government is considering a proposal to seize part of the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) frozen tax revenue to fund the operations of the Board of Peace for Gaza, Reuters reported on 15 May.

Three sources with knowledge of the matter said the US has not yet decided whether to formally request that Israel transfer the funds to the Board of Peace. 

Two Palestinian sources indicated that the proposal would allocate some of the withheld revenue to a US-backed transitional authority in Gaza, while the remaining funds would be released to the PA only if it implements Israeli-mandated reforms.

The 57 confirmed bombings of boats that the Trump administration has carried out so far since last September have shattered families and communities across Latin America, with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and U.S. Southern Command never acknowledging the identities of the at least 192 people they’ve killed, beyond declaring them “narco-terrorists.”

Names of Some US Boat Strike Victims Revealed

Jim Chalmers’ budget has done the economy a favour by wiping out the policy distortions of negative gearing and CGT discounts, writes Michael Pascoe.

You’d never guess it from the usual suspects’ headlines but Jim Chalmers’ budget does retail investors a big favour by forcing them to reconsider residential real estate’s sacred cow status. 

Yes, Virginia, house prices have jumped. No, Virginia, that doesn’t mean becoming a landlord is the smartest or foolproof way to build wealth. 

Some of the world's biggest and most powerful brands are attempting to be more cute and cuddly.

Tech giants Microsoft and Apple are among a wave of businesses who have recently introduced new cartoon character mascots, a tactic experts say is often used to make a brand seem more human and friendly, and to build a stronger connection with customers.

Apple's character, a blue and white figure with an outsized head, has become unofficially known as Little Finder Guy. Introduced in March in social media videos to promote a new laptop, it has gained some positive coverage.

Paul Ehrlich, the leading false prophet of inevitable environmental doom and author of the infamous The Population Bomb, has died at age 93. Why infamous? Consider the prologue to the 1968 edition:

US President Donald Trump concluded his state visit to China on Friday afternoon and departed Beijing on Air Force One. During this historic and landmark visit, mutual respect, valuing peace, and exploring cooperation were the overarching themes of the summit.

Let 2026 be a historic, landmark year that opens up a new chapter in China-US relations: Global Times editorial

By Global Times

Within academia, there seems to be a growing consensus that the peer-review system—once the backbone of academic scholarship—is broken. But is it irreparably so? Perhaps. At the very least, the breakdown of its current form is worth exploring. However, rather than abandoning the entire endeavor, we believe we have a novel solution. First, though, let us examine where the system went wrong.

Peer Review Is Broken—Here’s How to Fix It

BY MICHAEL R. JENKINS, ROB JENKINS

BROWNSTONE INSTITUTE

Ancient sources for the legends of Daedalus give varying accounts of his parentage. It is reported that in a fit of envy he murdered his talented nephew and apprentice — named Perdix by some and Talos by Apollodorus — who is said to have created both the first compass (the type used in drafting) and the first saw. Daedalus is said to have thrown the boy from the Acropolis, for which act he was banished from Athens.

“I am Jewish, and the antisemitism I experience comes from Zionists and far-right supporters of Zionism because of my outspoken opposition to the actions of the Israeli state.” Judith Treanor on the Royal Commission.

I am a Jewish dual citizen of Australia and the United Kingdom of Ashkenazi heritage. Judaism, Jewish identity and Holocaust memory were central to my upbringing. From the time I first learned about the horrors of the Holocaust, I became deeply preoccupied with how such evil could occur and how ordinary people could allow it to happen.

The phrase “Never Again” carried profound meaning for me. Antisemitism terrified me. Still does. Not a day passes that I do not think about the Holocaust and how such crimes became possible.

Rudyard Kipling, a modern classic of the Western literary canon, was both a champion of British imperialism and too honest not to know its very sordid underpinnings of greed, lies, and sheer selfishness.

That’s why the same man who extolled the “white man’s burden” also wrote ‘The Man Who Would Be King,’ a story of two lowlife, ambitious adventurers who manage to swindle their way to becoming kings as well as rich in a remote country on the fringes of the empire, then at its late-nineteenth-century zenith of global primacy.

The Spoiled Prince of Kiev: Zelensky has deceived and ruined his country with Western help

An ex-aide lays bare the corruption, lies and coercion in Ukraine’s leadership – while Western backing keeps the system alive...

BY Tarik Cyril Amar